Alberto Contador has lost his mojo: Cyrille Guimard

CYRILLE Guimard, the Frenchman who guided many Tour de France wins, has questioned the focus and state of mind of Alberto Contador.

Alberto Contador

CYRILLE Guimard, the Frenchman who guided Lucien Van Impe, Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon to Tour de France wins, has questioned the focus and state of mind of Alberto Contador.

Guimard suggests the Spaniard could be cracking under the pressure of his Clenbuterol case plus the hostile reaction he has got from the roadside crowd following the Tour.

“I cannot understand it,” he told L'Equipe newspaper.

Contador goes into tonights' fourth stage to Mur-de-Bretagne in 69th place on general classification and 1min 42sec down to the likes of  Thor Hushovd and Cadel Evans.

“He may have squandered things early in the he could ride himself back into overall contention in the mountains,” said Guimard.

“But it is a disturbing detachment from a rider who psychologically destroyed (Lance) Armstrong two years ago, who we know as fearless.”

Despite the best efforts of Richie Porte and the rest of the Saxo Bank-Sungard squad on the opening three days in France, outwardly Contador is showing signs of stress over his year-long fight to clear his name as a result of him testing positive.

On paper him seemed in good form, having trained alongside Porte in the Italian Alps in the weeks leading up to the start in Vendee on Saturday.

He also came to this grand tour having won nine races this season including taking the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia in May.

Porte has told The Australian that Contador has worked hard to be race fit for the Tour.

But the constant whistling and jeering by fans at the pre-race team presentation has clearly got to him.

“Contador may be paying for the load of stress he has carried in the past two years, exacerbated by his procedural troubles with the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), and by the whistles (at the start) in the Vendee,” Guimard told L'Equipe.

“It could eventually destroy him. Each man has his limits. This is the Tour, not the Giro.

“With the cracks in his character are starting to appear, Contador has to either start to race or I believe, he will not finish the Tour.”

Contador's Saxo Bank SunGard team and the rider himself  have moved to play down the impact of losing 1min 42sec to Hushovd.

His team finished eighth in the team time trial, losing  28 seconds to Hushovd's team, and 27 to that of Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team), Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and the Schleck brothers (Leopard Trek).

In a statement released by the Saxo management team at the race, he insists all is fine.

“I'm sure I'll get better every day because I have not had the same preparation as the other favourites who have done the Dauphine and the Tour of Switzerland.”

But in a rare backdown, Contador concedes his chances of winning the Tour have been hampered by the time loss.

“My rivals are still ahead and maybe I'm no longer the favourite to win.”

As Guimard suggests, the days ahead will be crucial.

Contador has got to get himself into the right frame of mind and show a fighting spirit, believing that he can get back into the hunt.

For his part, Contador says that he'll keep battling on.

“No matter what, throwing the towel in to ring is the last thing I would do,” he told L'Equipe.

“While there are riders who are better placed than me in terms of winning, but I'll never give up.

“I'm looking forward to the mountains.”