Alberto Contador: "I was very angry with the tactics used by the Soudal Quick-Step team"

Alberto Contador was one more of those who did not understand the tactics of Soudal - Quick-Step during yesterday's stage of the Vuelta a España. The Belgian team had Mikel Landa being dropped in the Puerto Herrera when the GC fight imploded, but apparent communication issues and controversial decisions saw many comments on if the situation was handled well.

The most incredible thing happened next: with more than 3 minutes lost, Mattia Cattaneo, who was fighting to win the stage in the breakaway group, was stopped. The Italian was rightly angry. Contador doesn't understand what happened: "Either you stop them immediately so that Mikel can come back or when all is lost at least let your rider fight for the stage".

The now Eurosport commentator regretted that Mikel was dropped on a climb that he knows perfectly well and that he has climbed on countless occasions:

"To see how Mikel Landa has been dropped in a pass that he has climbed thousands of times is very hard. On a personal level I had a bad time and I was very angry with the tactics used by the Soudal Quick-Step team, they didn't stop the riders the way they had to stop them, then they stopped Cattaneo at the wrong time, I think it was a real catastrophe. I feel bad for Mikel, I think he's having a spectacular season and in this Vuelta he was doing a great job. He was going to be one of the great animators, he can continue to be one, but now he has no podium options because he has lost a lot of time and that's a shame".