Spaniard hoping to ride through the pain on stage 8
Alberto Contador speaks with reporters following his stage 7 crash at the Vuelta. (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) confirmed this morning that he will continue in the Vuelta a Espana for now, despite the injuries from his bad crash at the end of stage seven.
Talking to journalists at his hotel before he set off to the stage start in Villalpando, the triple Vuelta winner said his major concern was if there had been some tears or a break in the muscles in his lower left leg as a result of the crash.
However, he planned to get on the rollers at the start, then see if he could at least start the stage and see how he gets on.
"I had a bad night because we went to bed very late, after working hard on the injury with the physios to try and reduced the inflammation in my left leg," Contador said, "particularly in the left calf.
"Then I woke up early for more treatment. What I really hope is that once the muscle warms up I can race well."
Contador was also hoping, he said, that there was no break in the muscle tissue, "and that once I got on the rollers at the start, I can warm up a bit."
Assuming he could pedal ok, the extremely flat terrain prior to the first category Camperona climb at the end of the stage, Contador said, was a factor in his favour.
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"Before I was glad there were climbs everywhere on the stages, and now it's the other way round. When we get to the climb, we'll see."
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
