(REUTERS) – Double Tour de France champion Alberto Contador heads into his title defence full of confidence in himself and in his Astana team. The 27-year-old Spaniard, one of only five men to have won the three grand Tours (France, Italy and Spain), dismissed suggestions that his squad were his weak point in the three-week tour, which starts with an 8.9-km prologue today.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself because I’ve had a strong start to the season,” a cheerful Contador said yesterday at his team’s hotel on the outskirts of Rotterdam.
Contador won the Tour of Algarve, the Paris-Nice stage race, the Tour of Castille and Leon and last month’s sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine to l’Alpe d’Huez.
“I have confidence in myself but also in my team,” Contador added.
On Thursday, former team mate and rival Lance Armstrong said: “I still think there are potentially team issues inside Astana. It’s no secret.”
Contador, who had a turbulent time riding with Armstrong last year, said he would rely on Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, his lieutenant on the Tour.
“My relationship with Alexandre Vinokourov is excellent. We fully trust reach other,” said Contador.
“Nothing that happened last year can happen with Vino. It is extremely important to have a united team, especially off the road, because we are going to spend a month together away from home.”
Last year, Contador was criticised by then team manager Johan Bruyneel and by Armstrong for allegedly not respecting team orders during the race.
Astana manager Yvon Sanquer, who took over from Bruyneel during the close season, said team roles had been made clear ahead of this year’s race.
“Alberto is the defending champion, he is our leader, there is no question about that,” he said.
“Alexandre has had a fantastic season, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege and riding very well in the Giro but on the Tour he will be fully devoted to Alberto.