It has been a long old season for Alberto Contador, a man who is not getting any younger. When he arrived in Abu Dhabi for his first participation in the Abu Dhabi Tour, he admitted he was not in the best condition to be here.
He was never going to do much in the three flat stages favouring sprinters but Saturday, attacking Jebel Hafeet, was to be his day.
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In the end he did not disappoint, finishing in fifth place. But at one stage in the 11km-climb, it looked as if he might get something more, primed as he was with Vincenzo Nibali to attack the leaders.
It was not to be, though Contador did enjoy a climb of the kind he would not have seen too often in his career. “It’s good this climb,” he said after the race. “It’s very, very different to the Pyrenees or the Alps.
“Also it is a pretty hard climb. You need a very strong team to approach this and next year, on the World Tour, it might be harder.”
Contador did not think Tanel Kangert was an unexpected stage winner, but he was happy with his own performance. “I’m happy with my result. After I started training I was sick and couldn’t go to Il Lomdardia [which he missed because of flu] and did a little training before this. I am happy with this.”
With just the final stage of the race at the Yas Marina Circuit left on Sunday, Tinkoff rider Contador is already looking forward to putting his bike away, his feet up, and putting on a few extra kilos.
“This was a hard race, especially as I’m not in very good condition,” he said. “But I knew when I came here to Abu Dhabi, I needed to only enjoy the race.
“I am happy also that we are more or less in the front, which was good for the team. Tomorrow is last day of the season and we can look ahead to 2017. Now I am finished I will have time to enjoy. It’s good because you finish the season late here, you have less time to gain more kilograms in the winter.”
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