Contador hopes knee holds up

Associated Press

LAVAUR, France

Defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador wants to show his rivals he is still the world’s best climber when the race hits the Pyrenees today. It just depends whether his troublesome right knee lets him.

The three-time champion has been bugged by a swelling in his right knee since he crashed on last week’s fifth stage, and he banged the same knee again when falling off his bike on stage 9 Sunday.

With two mammoth climbs up the Col du Tourmalet and an uphill finish to Luz-Ardiden awaiting him on today’s 12th stage, the Spaniard feels quietly confident his body will not let him down. It had better not, otherwise Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans, his main Tour rivals, will not hesitate to try to knock him out of contention.

“My knee is responding well so I’m obviously very happy,” Contador said after Wednesday’s 11th stage. “But keep in mind that I didn’t climb the Tourmalet today. I have to see how it responds and on that basis I will make a decision how to do the race on the last climb tomorrow.”

British sprinter Mark Cavendish won Wednesday’s stage with a blistering late attack to clinch his third stage win of the race, and Frenchman Thomas Voeckler kept hold of the race leader’s yellow jersey for another day.

Evans is the best placed of the main Tour contenders and the Australian veteran leads Schleck by 11 seconds overall, and Contador by 1 minute, 41 seconds. Schleck, who lost last year’s Tour to Contador by just 39 seconds, now leads him by 1:30.

But after today’s stage, those times could well be very different.

Contador’s priority on Wednesday was more about staying on his saddle and letting the rain massage his sore knee on a 104.1-mile, flat and rainy route from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur.

“The knee did not bother me at any time today,” Contador said. “The rain was actually soothing my knee today as it almost felt like ice.”

Stage 12 is a 131.1-mile trek from Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden and has three significant climbs.