Contador ready for Alps test in Tour de France

Alberto Contador says he has no choice but to attack his Tour de France rivals in the thin air of the French Alps if he is to defend his yellow jersey this year.

Spain's three-time champion has won all six past Grand Tours, including the Giro d'Italia which he secured for the second time in May.


Alberto Contador

But after a brutal first nine days of racing in which he crashed several times and lost time to key rivals, he arguably faces one of the biggest challenges of his career.

While the Saxo Bank team leader is four minutes behind French race leader Thomas Voeckler, more crucially he is 2:11 behind Luxembourg's Frank Schleck, 1:54 behind Australian Cadel Evans and 1:45 behind Andy Schleck.

Despite being one of the best time triallists in the peloton, Contador can't afford to wait for the penultimate stage's 42.5 km race against the clock in Grenoble to make up the difference.

"Without my time loss from the first stage I would be in condition to win the Tour and I could count on the last time trial to win the Tour," Contador said.

"But the way things stand now, that would be impossible." It is in the higher altitude of the Alps, where the climbs are also longer than the Pyrenees, that Contador expects to claw back his deficit.

"Right now the time gaps in the overall are quite big, so we have to use every opportunity we can to get ourselves back into contention," he added. "In the Alps things are going to change. The climbs are longer and the altitude is higher. Some riders won't be comfortable there."