ALBERTO CONTADOR HAS been talking to the press ahead of Le Tour’s final week.

The three-time winner of the event, participating in this year’s race under the threat of a retroactive ban from competition, has endured a difficult fortnight in the saddle that has seen him sustain a knee injury and lose four minutes to leader Thomas Voeckler.

While last week’s Pyreneean mountain stages devolved into a stalemate between Voeckler and the remaining race favourites, Contador is hopeful that the Alpen climbs, particularly the infamous Galibier, can prove more decisive: “The Galibier stage is the hardest with the last 10 kilometres of the ascent to the Col d’Agnel… I’m not as good or as fresh as at the Giro but I think I will be better in the Alps than in the Pyrenees. If I have good legs, it is certain that I will attack because it is my style.”

Conscious of the fact that his time-trialing prowess can’t be relied upon to carry the day, with Australian Cadel Evans likely to mount a stiff challenge in that discipline, Contador is determined to make his mark in the mountains and shrug off the effects of his lingering injury:

“Because of the crash, I had to change my pedalling. My right knee was hurting so I had to compensate with the other knee and it changed my way of pedaling…But I feel better, I’m confident for the Alps.”

As fallible as the Spaniard has appeared during this year’s Tour, even a partial return to the sort of climbing form that saw him dominate this year’s Giro could spell trouble for his rivals.

- additional reporting AP