Alberto Contador has finally kicked off his 2014 season, as he negotiated first racing kilometers at the Volta ao Algarve on Wednesday, wishing for some easy days in the saddle in order to slowly ride himself into a form ahead of his first real challenges, particularly Tirreno-Adriatico and Vuelta al Pais Vasco, not no mention the Tour the France constantly being on his mind.

The Tinkoff-Saxo leader, apart from the battles commonly taking place in the mountains, considers the fifth stage containing cobbled sectors and penultimate day when the long time trial will be held as the most decisive, and thus he spares no efforts to get himself properly prepared to challenges of those kinds.

“We will inspect cobbled sectors ( pavé ). It is important to do so, to negotiate those sectors in order to chose the right path and most suitable equipment, because a mechanical or crash happening there can ruin efforts of many months,” Contador explained in an interview for Marca

Referring to the long time trail, covering the distance of 54km from Bergerac to Perigueux, Contador confessed that even though he acknowledged an importance of this test, he opted to focus on training at altitudes to be competitive throughout the whole race.

“I did some training, but not as much as I would like to. I targeted the training at high altitude to make a base to build the form on. In the first races time trials won’t be transcendent.”

“I am aware, though, that the last time trial of the Tour will sort out the general classification and Froome is very strong in that discipline. I’ll have to be at a high level against the clock to achieve victory in the Tour.”

The fifth stage of the 2014 Tour the France with a finish in Arenberg will be held on July 9th and marks the return of the cobbles to the French grand tour. The route will include nine cobbled sections in a total length og 15.5km, starting with the legendary Carrefour de l’Abre (its toughest part won’t be included, however), and ending with Wallers situated only seven kilometers from the finish line. All the nine sections are negotiated by riders participating in the Hell of the North, but in the opposite direction.

Details of the 2014 Tour the France fifth stage

Wednesday, 9 July, Ypres - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 156 kms

Km 87 Carrefour de l'Arbre (1.1 kms)

96.5 km Pont Thibault (1.4 kms)

Km 103.5 in Pevele Mons (1 km )

Bersée 110 Km (1.4 kms)

Km 125.5 Beuvry -la- Foret (1.4 kms)

Km 131 Tilloy lez Marchiennes ( 2.4 kms)

Warlaing 135 Km (1.4 kms)

Hornaing 140 Km (3.7 kms)

Wallers 149 Km (1.6 kms)