Tinkoff-Saxo team manager Bjarne Riis stood close to the podium area at Tirreno-Adriatico and cherished the moment Alberto Contador celebrated his stage win and then pulled on the race leader’s blue jersey.
Alberto Contador on the podium after winning Stage 5 and taking the overall lead of the 2014 Tirreno Adriatico. Photo: Cycling Weekly
2013 was a season of struggle, tension and disappointment. For lots of reasons, including Anti-Doping Denmark’s investigation into Riis’ past as team manager.
So far this season, everything is going to plan and Contador appears to be back to his very best and ready to challenge Chris Froome at the Tour de France.
“I think that we might have the battle that everyone dreams of,” Riis told journalists at the finish line, clearly up for a battle with Froome, Team Sky and anyone else during the rest of the season.
Riis revealed he has been working hard with Contador to learn from the mistakes and problems of 2013.
“Alberto’s a winner, what happened last year wasn’t easy for him,” he explained.
“People can imagine that it’s been tough mentally to come back. He had to reset his focus. We agreed that we’d try to approach it differently this winter. He worked hard, it paid off and now this is the guy I know he can be.” – Cyclingnews
