“The idea was to try for the win and to get time gaps, but mainly to win, to get the bonus. It all went the way we’d hoped,” said the leader of Astana, who struck out alone at just over 1.5 kilometers from the goal. “I had to start from a distance and I chose to be very consistent. The advantage wasn’t much, but what mattered was the victory.”
 
Alberto confirmed that he felt well during the climb, “but not super, super. I had to expend a lot of effort to put myself in a good position, and you pay for that in the final kilometers. But, yes, I had good legs, although I had certain doubts about how the rivals were responding, even though I felt pretty well during the entire stage.”
 
After this result, however, Alberto doesn’t consider the race decided. On the contrary, “there’s a lot of race left, it’s barely begun, “ he said. “Besides, it’s much more complicated to win this race with the leader’s jersey than when you’re riding at 15 or 20 seconds behind in the general.”
 
Contador has no doubts about the ability of his teammates. “Yes, my team is strong and they’re turning themselves inside out for me,” he said, “but Paris-Nice is the second or third most difficult race to control in the international calendar. It’s very hard and very crazy. I don’t know how we’re going to be able to respond, but we’re going to try.”
 
Finally, Alberto said that Paris-Nice “still could be lost in every stage, because there are many riders down by only a little. It’s still not won.”