Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) is currently third in the Tour de France, 4:25 minutes behind yellow jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky). But on his rest day press conference, the Spaniard announced that he wouldn’t play it safe and defend his position – he wants to go for the win.

“My goal is to win,” Contador said. “It’s true that the leader is a level above everyone else, and you can’t beat him one-on-one; but we expect a very demanding last week where we’ll have tactical options because of the successive climbs. And to me it’s not important whether I finish second or tenth.”

He promised that he had a particular stage in mind: “There is one stage that could provide me with a chance. It will be based on the race situation, but if I see an opportunity I’ll take it and try.”

When asked which stage that would be, Contador laughed: “I can tell you in a week.”

The Spaniard is looking to one rider in particular for assistance: “Nairo Quintana can play a role. We’ll see if a situation arises where we can benefit from him. As for the rest, maybe their behaviour will help us to control the race.”

“Roman [Kreuziger] is a very important rider for me, as could be seen on Ax-3 Domaines. He is riding very well, and he’s in a good position overall. He is a card to play in the final week, and we have to play it.”

Contador was also asked about race leader Chris Froome, and if he believed in the Briton’s performance. “I have no reason to doubt Froome,” he answered. “He is a professional, he’s raced at a very high level throughout the year, and this is the fruit of his work. Sometimes you’re the strongest rider, at other times, you’re not. Right now he is the one at the top. I think he does it cleanly, and in any case there are doping controls for this.”