In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Contador - My Tour de France starts now; Tinkov - If Contador wins the Tour de France he should target the Vuelta; UCI provides clarification about hour record doping control testing for Wiggins and others; Who is Andrey Amador?; Cycling accident forces US Secretary of State John Kerry to cut short Europe trip; Light Bike Vs. Heavy Bike – What’s The Difference On A Climb?; ‘Japan’ by Adam Phelan; How the Race was Won - Giro d’Italia, stage 15; Orica-GreenEdge Backstage Pass: Giro stage 21.

Contador: My Tour de France starts now

Much has already been said about Alberto Contador’s goal of winning the Giro d’Italia/Tour de France double in 2015 and after Sunday’s win in the Giro he’s halfway to that goal. Speaking at the end of the Giro’s final stage, Contador spoke of his plan to get ready for Le Tour.

“My Tour de France starts now,” Contador said at the end of stage 21. “My preparation starts now.

“Tonight, to the extent to which it is possible, I’ll go and rest as early as possible. Tomorrow I want to go to Spain. I want to take three or four days before I start concentrating again on the Tour, in complete isolation. So tomorrow I’m looking forward to a nice day.”

Contador will return to racing on June 17 at the Route de Sud while several of his big-name rivals, including Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, will race the Criterium du Dauphine, starting this weekend. Nairo Quintana will reportedly race the Tour de Suisse in his build-up to Le Tour.

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

Tinkov: If Contador wins the Tour de France he should target the Vuelta

While Contador is now focused on the Tour de France in July, his team owner Oleg Tinkov appears to be looking even further ahead, suggesting Contador should race the Vuelta a Espana if he wins the Tour.

“It’s up to Alberto to decide about the Vuelta, he’s boss of team not me,” Tinkov said after the Giro. “But if he wins the Tour after the Giro, then I think he should definitely go for Vuelta.”

Tinkov knows Contador will face stronger opposition at the Tour:

“Of course Nibali, Froome and Quintana will be fresh for the Tour and Alberto will start after a tough Giro,” Tinkov said. “But if he wins, and I think he will win, he’ll confirm that he is the best Grand Tour rider of his generation.”

“Even if Alberto finishes second or third and Nibali, Froome or Quintana, who is the strongest Grand Tour rider? Of course it’s Alberto. No doubt…”

Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.

UCI provides clarification about hour record doping control testing for Wiggins and others

by Shane Stokes

The UCI has provided clarification about the rules in relation to doping control testing before and around the period of hour record attempts, confirming that riders who are not part of a WorldTour or Pro Continental squad must cover the costs of testing themselves.

“Riders making a special attempt must be included in the UCI Registered Testing Pool and provide accurate and up-to-date whereabouts information and must be subjected to anti-doping controls collected and analysed in accordance with the Athlete Biological Passport programme as implemented by the UCI,” a UCI spokesperson told CyclingTips.

“If the rider is not in the Registered Testing Pool or does not have any Athlete Biological Passport, all the associated costs for testing the rider or any extra controls shall be borne by the rider.”

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Who is Andrey Amador?

Andrey Amador was one of the surprise packets of the 2015 Giro. The Costa Rican Movistar rider finished fourth overall after three weeks of very consistent racing but many have asked the question: “so who is Andrey Amador?”

An article at the In the Drops website seeks to answer that question.

Here’s an excerpt:

“

Amador is his name, Andrey Amador Bikkazakova to be precise. It’s a strange one, thanks to his uncommon lineage. His mother, Raisa, is Russian, while father Rodolfo is of Galician heritage. The youngest of three sons, Andrey turned to cycling in his teenage years. He followed in the footsteps of middle brother Ivan, who he would later ride with in three editions of the Vuelta a Costa Rica.

Amador started off racing both on the road and on mountain bikes, and was successful almost immediately, winning nine gold medals at the National Games. Junior National road race and time trial Championships followed, before joining Ivan at one of the top teams in the country, BCR-Pizza Hut. He quickly overshadowed his older brother. As an eighteen-year-old he finished on the podium at the Vuelta a Costa Rica, as well as coming second in Panama’s Vuelta a Chiriquí later in the year.

With his mind set on turning professional he was advised that moving to Spain would give him the best chance of doing so, and midway through 2006 he did just that.Continental team Viña Magna-Cropu was his destination, where he linked up with future Movistar teammates Sergio Pardilla and Jose Herrada for the first time.

Click here to read more at In the Drops.

Cycling accident forces US Secretary of State John Kerry to cut short Europe trip

The US State Department has announced that Secretary of State John Kerry was hospitalised in Geneva after breaking his leg while cycling in the French Alps over the weekend.

Seventy-one-year-old Kerry, a keen cyclist, was over in Europe to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as part of ongoing negotiations to try and curb Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The secretary had planned on flying back to the US this evening [Sunday local time],” spokesman John Kirby said. “But after further consultation it was sensible for him to remain in the hospital for observation overnight for purely precautionary measures and fly home tomorrow.”

Mr Kerry broke his right femur in the accident. He has cancelled visits to Madrid and Paris following the incident.

Click here to read more via the ABC/AFP.

Light Bike Vs. Heavy Bike – What’s The Difference On A Climb?

How much of a difference does having a light bike actually make? The lads from GCN put this to the test on the climb to Sestriere, as featured on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia.

‘Japan’ by Adam Phelan

Like most cyclists, Drapac’s Adam Phelan spends a good portion of his year on the road, racing in various countries around the world and travelling to and from those races.

Over the past few months Adam’s been putting together short videos that capture what life is like on the road and here’s the most recent one, from the team’s visit to the Tour of Japan. You’ll notice Adam wearing the best young rider’s jersey and the overall leader’s jersey at different points in the video.

You can find more of Adam’s videos at his YouTube channel and read more at his website.

How the Race was Won: Giro d’Italia, stage 15

Here’s Cosmo Catalano with a How the Race was Won video from stage 15 of the Giro. As Cosmo says, it’s a little strange to be featuring this stage more than a week after the fact, but he believes the stage was representative of the Giro as a whole. Check it out.

Orica-GreenEdge Backstage Pass: Giro stage 21

Here’s the Orica-GreenEdge Backstage Pass video from the final stage of the Giro d’Italia. It features a nice wrap-up of the race as well as the team’s perspective on Luke Durbridge’s second place on the final stage.

What You Missed

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:

• 7 talking points from the last week of the Giro d’Italia
• Following Jesse Carlsson and the 2015 Trans Am bike race
• How To: Talk like a cyclist – round two
• Daily News Digest: Monday June 1