Alberto Contador making no friends with controversial riding style in race for Tour podium

BEHIND Rui Costa’s victory into Gap the race for a place on the podium of the Tour de France was turned up another notch.

BEHIND Rui Costa’s victory into Gap the race for a place on the podium of the Tour de France was turned up another notch.

Alberto Contador has said he’s not racing for second even though he’s conceded Chris Froome is stronger. Without the strength to win Contador will try every tactical trick in the book.

So, true to his risk taking word, he went looking for a weakness in the yellow jersey on one of cycling’s most notorious descents, plummeting down the tricky slopes as if his lycra had morphed into motorcycle leathers.

But in trying to scare the yellow jersey away it was Contador who crashed and impeded Froome along the way. 

And although the physical consequences were minor the fallout is likely to have lost him a few friends in the peloton. 

Once Froome and Contador returned to the group of the general classification leaders Contador gave a sarcastic thumbs up to Nairo Quintana (fifth overall), implying he had incorrectly taken advantage of the crash or even caused it. 

There’s little doubt that if Contador’s daredevil attack had caused Froome to crash he would have driven the advantage home. 

Unimpressed by Contador’s behaviour, Quintana’s experienced teammate Alejandro Valverde went to the young Columbian’s defense.  

A Spanish journalist reported that Valverde made it clear to Contador that Quintana had done nothing wrong and if there’s a problem it’s to be discussed in private, not in front of the television cameras. 

There was a strong “if you’ve got a problem with him, you’ve got a problem with me” about Valverde’s support of his quietly spoken teammate. 

Now throw Joaquim Rodriguez into the mix. 

Rodriguez is in seventh place and wants to finish in the top three. He’s achieved this at the Tours of Italy and Spain but not France. Not yet, anyway. 

Valverde and Rodriguez are former teammates. And when they were teammates they normally shared a room together at races. They remain close. Neither has a good relationship with Contador. 

Given he’s out of top-three contention, Valverde’s first priority for the remainder of the race is to get Quintana onto the podium. He’s second, now, is likely to be helping his friend to join Quintana in the top-three at the expense of Contador. At the very least don't expect Valverde to impede Rodriquez's progress.  

From now, until the traditional photo with a glass of champagne early on the final stage, the racing to Paris will be brutal. 

After Wednesday’s individual time trial there are three torturous stages in the Alps with 17 categorised climbs, most of them major mountains passes.

As for the 32km time trial, unlike the first one which was pancake flat, it has two serious climbs. 

Chris Froome should extend his lead. As the strongest climber in the race, who was second in the first flat time trial, he should also win the stage. 

The course doesn’t suit the time trial world champion, Tony Martin, but he’ll throw all his got at it. 

The battle for the minor placings on the podium is tense. 

From second to seventh are separated by two minutes and 57 seconds.

Any of the guys these guys could finish on the podium in Paris. 

Excluding Froome, who leads by four minutes and 14 seconds, here are the six to watch in the race for the podium:
•      Bauke Mollema (Belkin)        
•      Alberto Contador (SaxoTinkoff)     11sec
•      Roman Kreuziger (SaxoTinkoff)     14sec
•      Nairo Quintana (Movistar)        1min 33sec
•      Laurens Ten Dam (Belkin)        1min 40sec
•      Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha)        2min 57sec

Mollema has openly stated that Froome is the strongest and his objective is to hold on to his current position in the general classification. 

The Dutchman looked vulnerable on Mont Ventoux but he is a little stronger than the other podium contenders in the time trial. The stage 17 time trial will be his moment to create more of a buffer. From then on he’ll be simply trying to hold on in the mountains. 

This hilly race against the clock will suit Contador much more than the first time trial, where he was 15th at 10 seconds behind Mollema who was 11th.

But don’t expect any miracles. 

Then there’s Roman Kreuziger who has sacrificed copious amounts of energy for his SaxoTinkoff team leader, Contador. 

To avoid questions of leadership on the team only Contador fronted Monday's rest day press conference. Traditionally SaxoTinkoff has had all the riders on the team at its press conferences. A little insecurity from the team leader perhaps.

If Kreuziger privately holds ambitions of a top three finish he must do the ride of his life in the time trial. 

Next is Quintana, who is likely to lose some time on stage 17. But any time loses will only increase the likelihood of bold attacks in the following alpine stages. 

His aggressive racing style has captured plenty of hearts in this year’s Tour. 

Laurens Ten Dam slipped to sixth during the stage 16 fireworks and appears to be on the slide. 

As for Rodriguez time loses are the norm for him in the time trials. Stage 17 will be no different. 

But the man affectionately known as Purito has got some spring in his step. He has one strategy left for the rest of the race – attack. 

A podium finish is Paris is significant. 

Consider the euphoria of when Cadel Evans claimed second in 2007 and became the first Australian to reach the top three overall. There was disappointment at his missing the win but it was still a monumental achievement. 

For all bar Contador, as a former winner, joining Froome on the podium on the Champs Elysees will be the biggest result of their career.

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Wednesday 17 July Stage 17: Embrun - Chorges 32km (individual time trial) 

Live coverage begins on SBS1 at 10pm

Follow Matt Keenan on Twitter: @mwkeenan