"The important thing will be to have watts" - Alberto Contador analyzes simple but important Tour time-trial

This Wednesday sees one of the key stages of the Tour de France's first week. In Caen, the riders will face a 33-kilometer long time-trial where there could be meaningful gaps opened in the fight for the overall classification. Alberto Contador has shared his opinion on what may happen today.

"The fifth stage of the Tour de France is coming up, a stage marked by the great time trial specialists and also by the men in the general classification," Contador analyzed for Eurosport. "Some will want to take advantage of it to make a difference against riders who are less well-defended in this discipline and others to try to lose as little as possible".

He explained what he expected to happen in the time trial: "It's a practically flat time trial, it doesn't have any mountain passes, but I'm sure it will establish good differences between the men in the general classification".

The flat course will suit Remco Evenepoel taking into consideration the lack of climbing where Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar can match the Belgian; and at the same time there will be an interesting race for the yellow jersey with only 8 seconds separating the latter - and Mathieu van der Poel having a slight chance of retaining the race lead.

"Start with a somewhat ascending terrain, then it will be all at the same altitude, it seems that there will be neither heat nor wind. It's a Caen-Caen loop. Almost all the time it's on straight roads, it's not a particularly technical time trial. It's very important to be able to keep the same position. It's not the typical time trial where a rider can make a difference in the corners because of the technique. It has no big secrets, the important thing will be to have watts in your legs".