The contenders – Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)
Alberto Contador proved he is back to something resembling his unstoppable best at Tirreno-Adriatico, with two hugely impressive mountain-top wins. His performance on the Guardiagrele, which has ramps of up to 30 per cent in parts, was the best of the bunch but El Pistolero was in top form throughout the week. The Spaniard has big ambitions to add to his five career Grand Tour wins this season and having overcome his rivals at Tirreno, the Volta will see him line up against Chris Froome for the first time.
Contador proved at last year’s Tour de France that he is not afraid of taking on Froome on during the descents, and it could pave the way for him to follow Bradley Wiggins’ lead of last year and make an early move on stage one. Froome, if he is back from injury, will likely have the beating of Contador on the big climbs, but the Spaniard showed at Tirreno-Adriatico he is also still an awesome climber. If he can replicate the same sort of form at the Volta he will not be far off top spot on the podium again.
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