Roche hails Contador

While Contador steadfastly refused to be intimidated by bigger men in the time-trials, it was his electric performances in the mountains that ultimately led him to the verge of the yellow jersey.

"We have seen years ago throughout the Indurain era that there was such a fast tempo that nobody even tried attacking, whereas the route this year of the Tour de France has been more or less tailor-made for a climber," Roche told Eurosport.

"We had of course Rasmussen and Contador being natural climbers themselves, able to attack, attack and attack again. And of course Contador used the terrain to own ability and kept attacking until he finally got rid of his rivals.

"The difference between a normal, all-round rider like [Miguel] Indurain or even a [Lance] Armstrong compared to a guy like this is that he can go and go and go, While a guy like Armstrong for example could go once, maybe twice, but he couldn't keep going.

"That's why he kept a fast tempo so that guys like Contador wouldn't be able to attack. But it's great to see the energy of these guys jumping away all the time. Sometimes you think to yourself 'how can they do it?' Well, they can do it simply because they're what you'd call genuine, pure climbers."