No Greater Cyclist has.....
I think I like this image the best from the few I have with Sr Contador, it has a story,not just a foot in door for a selfie. It was one of the last time HE was here, as a patron for the Polartec team. I had a group and I thought dolefully that I'd miss the chance of seeing him, much less saying hello, as he was in the other part of the island. Now as I found out later, those Strava start/finish signs on the road at Soria come from his brutal selection process on the climbs, where he would give about 50 riders a head start and then ride through them, whoever kept up or got closest, got noticed. So on Day 2 of the Tour of Gran Canaria, I was leading my guys up from Fataga, when a car went past with a tannoy on the roof, which I noticed with interest, then a scooter went past with a snapper with a long lens hanging on the back, and I knew then for 100% certain that the whole AC train was coming up fast behind, I just had a second to glance behind to see a flash of yellow and grey, to know it was AC on a charge, he was perhaps 50m back and a 1/5 of a second later he was barging past, I went 100% from 11kph to stay with him, according to Strava I went from 11kph to 26 to 33kph on a 10% for about 600m before I disintegrated. The moto snapper was bellowing at me, yes you can do it, I thought if I at least got up to him, he might ease off, not a bit of it, by the Molino he had gone, but coughing like an old Fiat I kept at it, soon all the other whippets were passing me, all dead-eyed, including Martin Haugo, yes you sir, you were an inch from the grave!! When I got to the top, I was coughing continually, my throat was ripped out, however, I stopped spluttering sufficiently to grab that selfie, taken by Dave Allen, another hero but for different reasons. Alberto and his team done more for the image of cycling for Gran Canaria than any other effort, we salute you!!