El Pistolero


Contador’s first race and he’s won already. He was clearly suffering during Stage of the Tour of the Algarve in Portugal, this was not as dominant as his ride to Verbier last July. But this is how he operates, he likes to bag a few early season wins before vanishing in order to prepare for July.

Note that this was his first race since July! It’s a shame he doesn’t race more often. The Tour de France dominates the sporting calendar but something inside me wishes he could race more often. I don’t want to see him in Paris-Roubaix, but it would be good to see him racking some miles up in a French stage race in May, or perhaps being competitive in Lombardy come October. Now if I could win the Tour by training at home, well of course I would but our sport has subtle aspects, a champion should “be present” as they say in French.

One final observation: I like individual victory salutes but the “pistolero“? No way, it’s more like the “water pistol” Alberto! The guy looks so harmless that the salute looks like parody. Imagine some Flemish hardman like Stijn Devolder doing “the ballet dancer” or a big rouleur like Cancellara imitating a rabbit: it would look equally stupid.