Former rider Oscar Pereiro, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, has said that the next edition of the Tour de France is "much suited" to Alberto Contador and lamented the lack of sponsors in Spanish cycling that has left Movistar and Caja Rural as the only two pro teams.

"It's a Tour that doesn’t have a very long time trials and both are very hilly,” he told Europa Press. “There are many tricky stages and riders like Nibali who will not be there (Nibali may still do the Tour but is unlikely to ride for GC, ed.) may have their options. Quintana can take that step forward to win and he can hurt Froome. I think it will be like this year in terms of names. We will see how far Froome’s reign will go and if Alberto can reach his goal of winning the Tour," he said.

Oscar Pereiro who participated in a time trial in the Cuesta de la Vega in Madrid, predicted the favorites to win to be Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador, in the absence of Vincenzo Nibali.

"Of those three, Alberto is best the descender, the best in the second time trials and the best in the mountains. It's a Tour that suits many features.It has the typical mountain stages, a highly dangerous stage like the one to Morzine with the descont of Joux Plane, where I took back 40-50 seconds," he recalled.

According to Pereiro, Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), main protagonist of the last Vuelta a Espana and finally sixth overall after collapsing on the stage in the Sierra de Madrid, "should not, with all respects, be fighting for the win "

Like Miguel Indurain, Pereiro pointed to Mikel Landa as the rider who has the "responsibility" to lead the Spanish generational change when Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez retire.

"It's not easy. We have riders who are talented and have yet to score. With only Movistar in the WorldTour and Caja Rural, it is difficult to get people to stand out. Landa, Izaguirre and Moreno have to step forward," he said.

He regretted that the media and commentators like him expect things to come "out of nowhere."

"In cycling it takes a long time for young riders to demonstrate something and they can’r all be the next Alberto Contador. Abraham Olano looks like a failure for not getting the results of Indurain. Mikel Landa has to take that step forward and the rest have to mature and not be given the responsibility to take over from Contador, Valverde or Purito," he advised.

On the other hand, he admitted that he was filled "with great sadness” when the "very exciting" project of Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso to establish a Spanish team broke down, after negotiations with Euskaltel-Euskadi failed.

"There's the disappointment of knowing that that possibility did turn into reality. It was like a kick in the ass. It would have been great to have a person like Fernando Alonso to attract more sponsors. With only Movistar, it is hard to move forward. It is about replacing a generation of riders who took over from Indurain and `Perico'. If we don’t have professional teams, it is difficult for young riders to achieve their dreams,” he concluded.