Cycling-Contador says dropping Giro will boost his Tour hopes (Reuters)
By Julien Pretot SALON DE PROVENCE, France, March 11 (Reuters) – Alberto Contador believes his absence from this year’s Giro d’Italia could prove to be a game-changer when he challenges for a third Tour de France title in July. The 33-year-old Spaniard won a punishing Giro last year but fizzled out in the Tour that followed and finished a distant fifth without ever being in contention. “Having decided not to ride the Giro, I know I can give my all in all the events I enter, it’s a real deal-changer,” Contador told Reuters at the Paris-Nice stage race which he is riding for the first time since 2010.