Tour de France: Alberto Contador bemoans 'ordinary' time trial
Spaniard loses marginal time to Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome
Saturday 4 July 2015 19:23, UK
Alberto Contador refused to blame the weather conditions for his "ordinary" performance in the Tour de France's stage one time trial.
The Tinkoff-Saxo rider finished 46th on the day, 15 seconds and eight seconds down respectively on fellow pre-race favourites Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Chris Froome (Team Sky).
The stage was played out in sweltering conditions in the mid-30s, while the wind also started whip up later in the day.
Contador told cyclingnews.com: "I don't know how much of an issue the wind was, but it was very strong. In the end, though, it’s the same for everyone.
"My legs felt OK, but my pulse rate was very, very high. My intention was to take it fairly steady on the first half and then press harder on the second part, but I couldn't do that to the extent I wanted.
"In the end, it was a pretty ordinary time trial, but the rest of the favourites are all within a few seconds of each other and now we can start thinking about what lies ahead tomorrow."
Contador is aiming to become the first man since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same year. He had just 33 days between the two races, four of which he spent winning the Route de Sud in June.
After stealing an early march on his rivals, Nibali said: "I'm satisfied I gained time on the other top favourites."
The Tour continues on Sunday with a flat but potentially windy 166km second stage from Utrecht to Neeltje Jans.
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