Australian Michael Rogers could be Alberto Contador's secret weapon

TWO-TIME Tour de France winner Alberto Contador believes he can beat favourite Chris Froome, despite his lack of form so far this year.

Alberto Contador

TWO-TIME Tour de France winner Alberto Contador believes he can beat favourite Chris Froome, despite his lack of form so far this year.

"Froome has been very good all season, but if I didn't think I could beat him I wouldn't have any motivation to come here," he said yesterday.

One not-so-secret weapon could be Australian Michael Rogers, who formerly rode for Froome's Team Sky and knows how the British outfit thinks and races. Contador, who won cycling's greatest prize in 2007 and 2009, is viewed as the main challenger to Froome, who was runner-up last year behind Bradley Wiggins.

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But this year's Tour is the 30-year-old Spaniard's first since returning from a ban for a doping violation that saw him stripped of his win in 2010.

Contador has yet to register a win this season, trailing Froome in Oman, the Criterium International, Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine.

There have been doubts about his fitness after he said during the Dauphine that he was only at 75 per cent of his capacity.

Nevertheless, Contador said he was happy to return to "the biggest race in the world" and was hoping to perform to the best of his abilities when the riders begin the 100th edition in Porto-Vecchio on Saturday. "It's difficult to say, but I'm more or less at 90 per cent of my form," he said. "That was the aim for the start of the Tour, especially when you see the route.

"Depending on my position in the overall classification, we'll choose whether to adopt an attacking or defensive strategy.

"In any event, there'll be more action, more movement on this Tour than in previous years."

AFP