Alberto Contador has said that he would ban the use of power meters in races in order to provide for more aggressive racing. In a wide-ranging interview with Marca, the recently-retired Spaniard also revisited and reiterated his call for a salary cap to be introduced in professional cycling.
Although Contador will line up at the Japan Cup and a criterium in Shanghai later this month, he effectively signed off on his professional career with stage victory atop the Angliru on the final weekend of the Vuelta a España, where he finished fourth overall in Madrid.
Contador was one of the principal animators of the Vuelta, but throughout the three weeks winner Chris Froome's imposing Team Sky squad succeeded in tempering the aggression of most of his rivals, as they did for much of July's Tour de France. Contador maintained that riders were dissuaded from attacking by the information emanating from their power meters.
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"The earpiece restricts invention less than the power meter, which I'd eliminate from use competition," Contador told Marca.
"If you're going up a climb and you know that you can't go over 400 Watts and Sky are at the front of the peloton going at 400 Watts, you don't dare to attack because you'll blow up inside two kilometres. But if you don't see the numbers, your sensations might lead you to attack. Riders block themselves when they see the numbers, especially on gradients of six or seven per cent."
During a rest day press conference at the Vuelta, Contador said that he believed cycling should introduce a salary cap for fear the rising costs of running a top-level team would dissuade sponsors from entering the sport. Speaking to Marca, he also pointed out that big-budget teams could dominate certain races.
- Contador proposes salary caps for pro cycling
- Is the UCI’s points system destabilising the sport?
- Vaughters: Tinkov was a victim of his own sword
- Stannard: You can't race the Classics staring at your power meter
- Quintana calls for power meters to be banned from racing
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