Contador became stronger after his retirement: "I considered returning for the Giro in 2020"

Geraint Thomas knows how to invite wonderful guests into his podcast. Such is the case this week. He brought Alberto Contador to the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club show in the off-season. Contador, of course, has competed with Team Sky in the peloton in the past, battling against Thomas and especially Chris Froome in the tours.

The two ran into each other in Miami, and thus, Contador was willing to join the podcast. "I have always stayed connected to the sport that brought me so much. With my team now, the ambassador role and the Foundation, for which I raise money, to support people suffering from cerebral hemorrhage." Contador himself was fatally injured in one such hemorrhage in 2004 and is left with a significant scar on his skull.

"The first two years after my career, I sat in front of the TV with a lot of nostalgia," the two-time Tour winner continued. "I also experienced my peak values in training only after retirement. Just before the Corona Giro, I hesitated to turn pro again before that tour," the Spaniard reveals a surprising anecdote. "And didn't you feel the same way when you saw me win the Tour in 2018?" Thomas then jokes about his own triumph that summer.

Read more below the photo.

Contador and Froome, former rivals, together in America

Contador comments on rivalry with Sky: "Because of you, I did altitude training"

In Contador's heyday, he competed with Andy Schleck for the prizes; just past his peak, he was more often Froome's challenger. The Spaniard no longer managed to win the Tour. Thomas saw in his early years how strong Contador could be, especially in the attack. "I remember the last mountain stage in the 2011 Tour; you just didn't stop. I was screaming in the earpieces: Contador will not attack again now, will he? You were also a very nice rider; as a leader, you never made trouble in the races; I greatly respected you."

Contador, including the Tour later taken from him in 2010, won six consecutive grand tours he participated in from 2007 through 2011. "The picture changed in 2013 when Sky took over. I didn't win a grand tour that year because of Sky. I then really started thinking about how I could level up. I didn't go on my first altitude stage until 2014," El Pistolero discloses a fun fact. "I was obsessed with improvements over Sky and Froome; I was improving tremendously in the tests."

Thomas explains the rivalry. "Froome did the same thing." He used to say, "I have to go after Berty," as he called you. It was a great time; they had a lot of respect, but the level went up because of the rivalry. Contador speaks with the same praising words. "You need a rival to get better." One of the other rivals was Lance Armstrong, who joined Contador's team in 2009.

"That was a challenging year," the winner of that year's Tour acknowledges. "It ended up being an extra motivation for me on the Tour, but beforehand, I didn't know what to expect. I knew right away it was going to be a tough Tour. I had won once; he had won seven times. It wasn't so much that I was then immediately a leader. I understood him, but I had my ambitions. The ambiance was not good. And so I just stuck to my own goal: to win. In the end, Andy Schleck turned out to be my big rival. The press ended up making it more of a rivalry between me and Lance than how I felt it was. Thomas draws a comparison between himself and Froome. 'We were fortunately very close, even though we both wanted to win. That saved a lot of stress in that situation."

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