Alberto Contador admitted today that he hadn’t his best day on the L’Alpe d'Huez stage. “Today we didn't have the best feelings. From the very beginning I had rather heavy legs. In the end, I had a bit of dehydration,” he said after arriving at the Saxo-Tinkoff hotel.

As for the race, he praised his teammates and said he couldn’t do more. “The team rode very well but once the attacks started, unlike other times, I preferred to go at my pace thinking that the climb was long.”

However, on the descent from Sarenne, Contador went in front with teammate Roman Kreuziger, but the manoeuvre was not a real attack. “I wouldn’t say it was an attack, it was only to go ahead of the group, because we went calmly and without taking any risks. Yes, we took some time, but we knew we needed more people with us and nobody came, so the smartest thing was to stop and wait for the group because Movistar had been organized behind.”
 

About his right knee, Contador said it didn't affect his performance. “At the beginning of the stage it annoyed me a bit until it had been warmed up, but it hasn't affected me.”

And on the mountain stages that still remain he said that we can expect “everything”. “Tomorrow is a tough stage and we have to see how the weather is. It has Glandon and Madeleine in the beginning and it will be really hard, we will have to see how we go. And on Saturday there is a really hard summit finish. Today was a good opportunity for the Tour victory, but my legs didn't respond. Now the most important thing is to rest.”
 

About the first sign of weakness displayed by Chris Froome (Sky) in this Tour, Contador remained cautious. “I don't know, I haven’t seen it and I cannot say much, but what caught my attention is that he attacked at 12 kilometres from the finish. I do not know what sense it made to attack there. And I'm quite surprised that he was subsequently dropped by Quintana and Joaquím,” he concluded.