The day Alberto Contador had to take 16 gels due to the extreme cold at the Giro d'Italia

Alberto Contador won two Giro d'Italia's during his time as a professional and believes that the Corsa Rosa is the most beautiful stage race on the international scene.

"The Giro is the most beautiful race because it has a route that allows you to break the script. We are talking about climbs, many of them above 10% where the work of the team does not influence so much, the weather plays an important role, with rainy days, days of humid heat and that means that each rider can make a difference."

In statements collected by Diario del Triatlón, the current Eurosport commentator explains that he always enjoyed the Giro, every time he raced it (remember that he won 3, but was disqualified from one for doping):

"The Giro was a race that I always enjoyed. It had a lot of tension and pressure for me but a tad less than in the Tour de France. In the Giro you have more epic stages, in the old style and the organizers take care of them. For example, this year there are 11 stages close to or over 200 km, 3 stages go over 5,000 meters of ascent which is truly crazy and many risks are taken in a month of May in which there is cold and snow."

Contador also explains the differences between the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. "The Giro marks the difference with respect to the other grand tours and has a greater influence on the ability to recover from day to day. In the Giro, if you have a bad day, you don't lose 45 seconds, but you can lose 10 minutes."

He ends by telling an anecdote of a very hard day that he had to save by taking gels non-stop due to the cold and hardness:

"In the Giro many things can happen and a bad day takes you away from the general, I know it firsthand. I remember a stage that was a wild one in 2011, with almost 240 km, I remember that at km 30 I only had Jesús Hernández and I said to myself "my goodness Alberto what awaits you today". That day I took 16 gels because it was difficult to eat because of the cold, I was alone and what I was doing was taking gels. Nibali attacked me, I got cold blooded and he threw me out a hand Rujano in the Marmolada, then I recovered for the end. In the Giro you can make allies, it is one of the few races where you still see that, but that stage was an outrage with more than 6,000 meters of ascent."