Michael Rasmussen: You can't overestimate the Stelvio stage

Michael Rasmussen is sure that Stage 20
will determine who's going to win the Giro.

Ryder Hesjedal has pole position before Saturday's final mountain stage ending with 22,4 km of climbing up to Passo dello Stelvio. Before that four categorised climbs have been on the menu, including 11,4 km in hell on Mortirolo with an average of 10,5%.

Asked about this stage, former climber champion Michael Rasmussen told me:

"This stage is so much harder than anyone think it is. You really can not overestimate this stage. It's really that hard. Mortirolo is a nasty climb and most riders will already be in red [zone] when they start on Stelvio. It's going to be a nightmare."

If Purito, Scarponi and Basso want to shake Hesjedal this is their last chance so get ready for a big show on Saturday!

Unstoppable Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador aka El Pistolero.

Alberto Contador has been levels way above his opponents for last 3 years but according to Bjarne Riis and Contador's trainers there is still a lot to improve on the Spaniards performances. Not a little - A LOT, they say...

One of these improvements is Alberto Contador's time trial abilities. Contador has already won short as well as and long time trials in the Grand Tours, beating Fabian Cancellara in the Tour de France back in 2009, so imagine the machine he will become if he even has room for improvement in this discipline. One of the things Contador and his staff are working on is the position on the saddle, where an adjustment of only a couple of centimeters should be able to give Contador a better aerodynamic position and thereby win extra seconds.

Bjarne Riis has always been a perfectionist down to the smallest detail and helping Alberto Contador to a better position on the bike seems to open new doors for El Pistolero. I talk about the Olympics, where Contador already has pointed out he wants to aim at the time trial. With guys like Fabian Cancellara, Bradley Wiggins & Tony Martin you would expect Alberto Contador to pass on the challenge so close after the end of the Tour, but according to Contador himself he aims big on the Olympic time trial. It's going to be very interesting to see how that ends up...

Contador was unable to shake off
Rasmussen in the Tour 2007.

May I remind you that only one rider ever has been able to follow - and beat - Alberto Contador in the mountains, when Contador is on top of his game, and that was Michael Rasmussen back in 2007. Since that only Andy Schleck came close in 2010, but without a solid time trial performance Andy Schleck will never win the Tour. In 2012 there is almost 100 km of time trialing on the Tour-menu and when Alberto Contador is close to unbeatable in the mountains and takes time on all his main rivals (Wiggins and Martin don't stand a chance in the high mountains in my opinion) in the ITTs - who is going to beat him?

Last year Alberto Contador didn't start out preparing for the Tour, only the Giro, and see what happened. I too hope for a close run in the Tour de France this year, but I must be honest and say that I have absolutely no doubts that Alberto Contador, without crashes and incidents, will win his 4th Tour title in July this year.