After one week of race, Spain’s Alberto Contador, attempting a rare Giro d’Italia-Tour double, stays one of the favourites for the Tour de France. The Tinkoff-Saxo leader is currently seventh, 36 seconds off the pace, Christopher Froome (Team Sky). He explained the goal to do the double is not a personal objective. All year, a core of Contador’s teammates have followed a similarly tailored programme, with a reduced diet of spring racing, and the end result is that the Tinkoff-Saxo roster at this Tour includes no fewer than five of the team that lined up at the Giro in May. Indeed, Michael Rogers, Ivan Basso, Roman Kreuziger and Matteo Tosatto were all part of Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo guard during his victorious Giro and returned to the coalface on this Tour.

"It did take me a good two weeks to feel ready to get back into training," Michael Rogers told Cyclingnews. "Physically so far on the Tour, it hasn’t been really, really hard but mentally it’s been very tough. It’s been interesting to see the different approaches of the teams. Some teams are coming in a lot fresher from not doing the double. We’ll see how that plays out in the coming stages."

During the Giro d'Italia, Tinkoff-Saxo seemed to be in difficulty. Rogers explained the reason. “It certainly did take its toll, also because we ride very defensively as a team and that’s the price of having one of the favourites. We can’t afford to sit down at the back of the bunch because if Alberto’s down the back, potentially other teams could take advantage of it and make it harder for us. That’s the way we ride.”

“The Tour is always a grind. The Giro is more about legs whereas at the Tour you need that mental aspect to keep pushing on. The physical difference between the top 10 or 20 guys is minimal and sometimes you can make a lot of difference if you’re prepared to suffer on for ten more minutes.”

For Contador, his situation is ideal. “I wouldn’t have signed to be in this position right now, I’d like to be closer to Froome, clearly. But considering the high tension, we haven’t fallen and that’s important.”