Contador in USA

Contador traveled to USA on Sunday for training camp in Santa Rosa
“I’m not going crazy over logging hours on the bike”

Alberto Contador traveled to the USA on Sunday for ten days work with his teammates at Astana’s training camp in Santa Rosa, California. At camp, Contador will prepare for his first race of the 2009 season, the Volta al Algarve, February 18-22. He is eager to race, but notes that this year his preparation is somewhat behind the schedule of last year, and that it’s still too soon to be fully in shape for competition. “I’m looking forward to camp, because this year I started training a little later, and at first, at Tenerife, I almost couldn’t take advantage of it because of surgery. Now I hope we have good weather in California and can get in a sizeable chunk of work.”

How do you rate your current form?
I’ve been doing very dedicated training for weeks and I’m starting to feel good, but up till now I’ve only done base work. I haven’t been doing climbs, I haven’t done intervals, and I’m not going crazy over logging hours on the bike. Maybe at training camp I’ll start to work on intensity, but I don’t want to overdo it, because this will be a very long year.

Are you eager to pin on that first bib number?
Absolutely, because I love to race and that’s what motivates me to train. I’m going to debut in the Algarve, but it’s not a race I’m familiar with and I won’t be riding to win. It will be the first contact with competition.

Have you made any changes to your bike, or will it be the same as in 2008?
We’re working with Trek to introduce some new features, and we also want to set up the time trial bike to coordinate with the data we got in the wind tunnel.

Will you train against the clock in California?
I think that the wind tunnel team are going to training camp in order to define the exact position I’ll adopt in the races, therefore I want to take that opportunity on some day, because that training is also very important.

Are you familiar with Santa Rosa?
I’ve talked to Levi Leipheimer, who lives there, and it’s his usual training ground. I think we’ll have spring-like temperatures, but I’m not familiar with the venue, because it’s different from the recent ones.

Do you know yet who’ll be on your team for the Algarve?
No, that’ll be decided at camp, depending on how each guy’s doing.

By the way, some fans wonder why there aren’t any classics on your calendar this year.
Well, there’s still a chance to fit in a one-day race, specifically La Flèche Wallonne or Liége-Bastogne-Liége, but I haven’t wanted to put them on my calendar because everything depends on how the Vuelta al País Vasco ends, since that stage of the season is usually a bit long to hold my first peak of form. I like those races, but I’m going to play it by ear.