Abu Dhabi: Alberto Contador, the two-time Tour de France winner, is one of the high profile riders here for the World Tour edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour. However, the Spaniard won’t be the main man for his team Trek-Segafredo and will instead be playing second fiddle to teammate Bauke Mollema, he said.
“I won’t be leading the charge for Trek-Segafredo for this Tour and my objective is to work for Mollema and other teammates,” said Contador adding that he is in good shape but still not at his peak.
“I want to play a supporting role because I have teammates who are stronger. My condition is pretty good for this time of the year. I want to continue and get better for the rest of the season,” said Contador, who raced in the Abu Dhabi Tour last year when it was scheduled on the calendar in autumn and finished fifth overall.
“I have no problems in helping Mollema and we both complement each other well. If we can put a good show and end up winning, nothing like it,” said Contador adding his main reason for taking part in Abu Dhabi was to get 100 per cent fit for the season ahead.
“My first target next is the Paris-Nice and to be there at the peak of my fitness I need to be in top form. That will come with only racing,” said Contador, adding he felt very good at Ruta del Sol and was able to push hard.
“Training is different and racing with the best is different. The feeling in Ruta was good and so I’m very much good to go here. A race like this will help me enhance my fitness further,” added Contador, who finished second overall in Ruta — the same result that he managed there two years back. The second place finish would have definitely been a hard pill to swallow, especially because he had never won it before and lost it only by a second to Alejandro Valverde, who won it for a record fourth time.
“That race (Ruta) has definitely given me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. It showed I’m very much there,” said Contador, who felt that the field here in Abu Dhabi makes the contest very challenging — but that he and his team are up for it.
“We will definitely aim for the general classification. We will be giving our best for sure to try and be there out in the front. It won’t be easy though with the best of riders here. However, we have the team to do it,” asserted the 34-year-old.
