Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) admitted he did not feel great on the first mountain finish of the Tour de France and so was forced to fight to limit his losses to his overall rivals.
The Spaniard finished eighth on the stage to La Planche des Belles Filles, one place ahead of an equally opaque Nairo Quintana. He lost 26 seconds to stage winner Fabio Aru (Astana) and six seconds to Chris Froome in the surge to the finish on the 20 per cent finish.
Things could have been far worse after Contador, Quintana and others were dropped by Froome, Porte, Bardet and Martin as they set a furious tempo in pursuit of lone attacker Aru. Fortunately, an easing of the pace and the easier final 500 metres before the kick up to the line allowed them to limit their losses.
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Contador is now eighth overall, 52 seconds down on new race leader Froome. He lost 42 seconds to Froome in the opening time trial in Dusseldorf.
"Today the important thing was to save the Tour because I was not great," Contador admitted immediately after the finish.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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