Contador's Tour de France hopes fade on Alpe d'Huez

Alberto Contador and his Saxo-Tinkoff team took the fight to Chris Froome (Sky) early in stage 18 in a bid to shed him of teammates and they tried to put him under pressure on the sinuous descent of the Col de Sarenne, but the final haul to Alpe d'Huez delivered an ineluctable truth – the Spaniard does not have the legs to win the 2013 Tour de France.

Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.