Tinkoff-Saxo team displays great confidence in its GC leader Contador, saying that the Spaniard can "fight for everything", including a Tour de France victory against Froome, according to VeloNews.
Last year Froome crushed the field in nearly every major race he attended, including the Tour, in which he beat Contador comforably. "Froome was unbeatable last year. When a rider is better than you, you have to assume that, and work harder," says Contador.
But when talking on 2014, the Spaniard rapidly switchs to a confident voice, "We are changing a few things in my approach to the Tour this year. I am optimistic that we can arrive at the Tour in top condition to fight for everything." And Contador continues, "As a person, I choose to look at things with optimism. I am not frustrated or lose enthusiasm. Instead, I see it as a new challenge, and I have nothing but motivation at the start of 2014." Also, asides from fight in the Tour, Contador will attend Vuelta this year, which Froome will probably not attend, but nonetheless will attract strong climbers like J-Rod and Valverde.
Other Tinkoff-Saxo riders also share similar opinion. Kreuziger, who was 5th overall himself in Tour 2013, will give his best to support Contador, "I have some early season goals, but for the Tour, we will all ride to support Alberto," Kreuziger says. "He is a rider who makes everyone work harder. We all believe he can win, and we see how hard he is working. In training rides, he is always very focused, and takes his work very seriously."
Nicolas Roche also shows confidence in his leader, "Alberto never gave up last year. Even when he knew Froome was stronger in the mountains, Alberto kept fighting all the way to the end. Every morning we talked about how we could attack the race."
Tinkoff-Saxo keeps most of its riders from last year's Tour squad, including Contador, Kreuziger and Roche. Rogers is a major loss though, the Australian could face a 2-year ban following a positive test. Among the other domestiques, only Noval chose to retire, who didn't have much to offer anyway other than being Contador's close friend. Hernandez, Paulinho, Tosatto and Bennati all remains in the squad. Whether the team and Contador can achieve their goals in Tour, remains to be seen though.
Rihards BARTUSEVICS 34 years | today |
Hijiri ODA 26 years | today |
Maïté BARTHELS 23 years | today |
David CHOPIN 36 years | today |
Leticia GALAN 34 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com