Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) made a huge leap up the overall classification as he moved from ninth to fifth overall at the Vuelta a Espana with an impressive time trial performance on Tuesday. He still remains more than two minutes adrift of the final podium spot controlled by Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), and the three-time champion says that making the podium in the final race of his career will be tough to do.
"I think I did a good time trial, but after today I think reaching the podium will be very difficult," explained Contador.
Contador finished 59 seconds down on stage winner and race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky), equal on time with Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) while giving away some seconds to Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb).
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When he crossed the line, he had the fastest time, and it would take Kelderman to push him off his perch. Contador said afterward that he had opted not to race the stage by numbers but by feel. He admitted that it hadn't been his best performance against the clock.
"I didn't have the split times of my rivals; I covered my SRM and preferred to ride only on my sensations. I don't think it was the best time trial I have done in the last years - even recently I have done better, like my time trial at the Tour de France," said Contador.
"There were some riders who were superior: Kelderman and of course Froome. We knew that Froome was the big favourite for today; I think today's time trial suited him down to the ground."
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