Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) puts in an effort on the finale to Gap(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) attacked repeatedly to put pressure on yellow jersey Chris Froome (Sky)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
If Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana have genuine aspirations of knocking Chris Froome off the top step of the Tour de France podium by Paris they must make the race as aggressive as possible, says Sean Kelly.
The former all-rounder was talking to Cyclingnews on stage 17, a time trial that Froome won, with Contador finishing in second. The Spaniard now trails Froome by 4:34 but with three Alpine stages to come and Contador vowing to go on the attack at every opportunity the race is not quite over.
In this exclusive video Kelly talks about the tactics that may play out in the coming days, starting with stage 18 to Alpe d’Huez. An aggressive front from Saxo-Tinkoff and Movistar, Kelly believes, may well isolate Froome, as was the case on stage 9 to Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
That day Froome and Sky faced a number of attacks and the race leader was without teammates for most of the stage. He survived and has since bolstered his lead in the time trials and on the stage to Mont Ventoux.
But Kelly still sees Sky’s line-up as a opportunity for others to exploit.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
