Alberto Contador on UAE friction - "With the current scenario, where it looks like Ayuso wants to leave the team, anything can happen"

Alberto Contador, three- time winner of the Vuelta a España, was at the team presentation this week in Torino for the start of another edition. 'El Pistolero' has commented on several of the main figures of the race including Team Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates - XRG, alongside it's leaders.

In an interview with Marca, Contador talks about what could happen with Jonas Vingegaard throughout the next three weeks, UAE Team Emirates - XRG's co-leadership between Juan Ayuso and João Almeida which could once again provide a lot of tension in the race; and several other topics into the final Grand Tour of the season.

"The big difference is that some of the initial tension is eliminated. Already on the second day there's a second-category summit finish and that helps to reduce nerves, to avoid crashes and pile-ups. At the same time, three consecutive summit finishes can make the general classification too early. With Jonas Vingegaard at the start, who is the second best Grand Tour rider in the world after Tadej Pogacar, he will certainly want to take advantage of any chance from the start."

"The most important thing here is to fail as little as possible. You don't need to be the strongest, but to be consistent. With so many summit finishes and demanding days, the key is to always respond and avoid a bad day that takes you out of the fight. Roglic, even with some discrete days, has won thanks to that consistency. If you manage to be regular and not sink, you're very close to victory."

"Both have very strong squads. In these cases, more than the names, it's the condition in which the leader arrives that counts. UAE has a lot of depth, but Visma also comes with guys like Jorgenson, Campenaerts, Van Baarle or Kuss. It's very balanced."

"It's very important. He already knows what it's like to get on the podium at a very young age, but he still needs to take that final step to victory. I think UAE will give freedom to both João Almeida and Ayuso to fight, and it will be the road that will decide who is the leader. They can also play the double lead-out card to put pressure on Vingegaard, who on paper has the advantage thanks to his two Tours and the consistency he has shown in grand tours."

"In the past there has already been friction. And with the current scenario, where it looks like Ayuso wants to leave the team, anything can happen."

"It can be positive. The Tour wears you out a lot and not having ridden it in its entirety can give you freshness, as long as you've had enough time to recover."

"It's difficult to say. Spain has Ayuso, a young rider with enormous potential. For the Tour it may still be early, but in the Giro he was already among the favorites with Roglic and now in the Vuelta he is placed as third candidate. That reflects that he is very well positioned. It's true that Giulio Ciccone is having a great season, but he has never made a top ten in a grand tour. That's why I'd say Spain is a bit ahead, although not by much."