Alberto Contador didn’t seem to understand when a French commentator asked him if he felt disappointed or happy with the results of the time trial.

“Disappointed? Absolutely not,” responded the Madrileño, “I’m very happy. I know that I didn’t win, but I was beaten by a great rider like Cancellara, the best in the world at stages like this. Everybody’s got their own turf in the Tour and mine is not the same as Cancellara’s. I’ve got other rivals, and out of all of them, I was the best.

”With a big smile on his face, Contador went on to say, “I got here in very good form after the Dauphiné and because of that I knew that I’d feel well at the beginning of the Tour. I’ll try to stay at this level.

”Questioned about his “victory” over his teammate Lance Armstrong, he reponded: “I’m not worrying about that. It’s the press who want to talk about the conflict in our relationship, but within the team things are very good. I hope that Astana wins the Tour, because it has the best riders.

”The cyclist from Pinto wore the red polka dot jersey that distinguishes the leader in the mountains category, and joked, “It’s not the jersey that I want. The one I want is a different color. We’ll see if I can change it.”