Contador to put body on the line in pursuit of 2015 Giro-Tour double
Alberto Contador hopes his body can remain intact for the next three weeks as he bids to become the first man to win the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in the same year for the first time in 17 years.
Not since Marco Pantani in 1998 has one rider won the Giro-Tour double and should Contador achieve it he would have won all three Grand Tours - of France, Italy and Spain - in succession.
Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault won three in a row and Contador hopes his own Slam would cement his status as the best Grand Tour rider of his generation.
His task is all the more difficult as the 102nd Tour, which begins on Saturday in Utrecht, is one of the most anticipated in recent memory, with Contador, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, 2013 winner Chris Froome and 2013 runner-up Nairo Quintana all vying for the fabled yellow jersey.
"If I were to win the Tour full stop, it wouldn't change my career so much," 2007 and 2009 winner Contador said.
"Something that people can remember is winning the Giro and the Tour in the same year.
"Everything in life is a challenge and a motivation and this is something that motivates me and drives me on.
"Having the Giro does make me feel a bit less stressed, but the Giro-Tour double is one victory not two.
"In my head I feel really motivated, and how my body will react is a new challenge, but I'm very happy with the condition I have."
Contador was the recipient of a bizarre gift in Utrecht on Thursday - a yellow canary.
The 32-year-old confirmed he bred canaries in his youth and was presented with one by two Dutch television personalities.
Contador did not take the canary away, but he will hope to finish with the maillot jaune on July 26 in Paris.
The Tinkoff-Saxo leader crashed out of the 2014 Tour, which began in Leeds, as Nibali won in convincing fashion.
Contador revised his focus to the Vuelta and won ahead of Froome, whose Tour also ended in fractured limbs.
It was prior to the Vuelta that Contador first thought of the possibility of winning all three Grand Tours in succession.
His Tinkoff-Saxo team owner Oleg Tinkov raised the possibility of the four leading riders going for all three Grand Tours in one season, putting a one million euro prize up for grabs.
The arduous task is thought to be near-impossible and few riders even start all three events in the same year, let alone finish them or compete for victory in them.
Stage 1 route preview:
Contador described this year's Tour route, which traverses northern France from Utrecht before challenging stages in the Pyrenees and Alps, as the toughest he has done, with a potentially fractious first week followed by challenging mountain tests in the Pyrenees and Alps.
"It's hard and it's going to be fundamental not to crash or fall off - and that's hard enough," Contador added.
"I was worried that I wouldn't recover well from the Giro, but I have done.
"Both my head and body are in good shape, and it was maybe harder on my head (to recover well) than anything else. Now it's up to me to take the Tour day by day."
There is the added complication for Tinkoff-Saxo in Peter Sagan, who has won the points classification green jersey for the last three years.
Sagan will likely go it alone, but may have to sacrifice his ambitions to aid Contador's pursuit of yellow.