What is your bid for the podium in Verona?
It's always a game of chance. But I think Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz and I think Mathieu Van der Poel will be in contention for the top three places in the standings, although I don't know the order but I think the three of them have a little bit more chance than the rest.

What do you expect from the coming Giro d’Italia?
I expect to see a lot of surprises in this year's edition. From my experience in the race, the most important thing is to be a regular competitor. It's not necessary to be the best, but to not fail and to be regular, especially in the mountain stages. If you do that, you're already assured of a good place in the general classification. If you make a mistake in the Giro, you lose minutes, not tenths or seconds in the classification.

That's why I think the most important thing is for the group of favourites to concentrate on not making mistakes. Carapaz and Nibali are two experts as well as Simon Yates, Mikel Landa or Almeida himself will fight at a high level and it will be a very attractive competition for the audience.

Who are your most favourite cyclists in the sport now and why?
Mathieu Van der Poel, Wout Van Aert, Tadej Pogaçar or Joao Almeida are impressive. I don't want to forget other great riders like Julien Alaphilippe or Remco Evenepoel and a long etcetera of great riders.

Do Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas have what it takes to win another Grand Tour again?
They are both great cyclists who have won races like the Tour. They have great quality, but it is true that the results of the last two seasons are not the best to think that they can be favourites. However, they have more than enough qualities to win any race.

Is the future of cycling in the hands of Pogacar, Bernal, Sagan?
We can rest assured that the current generation of cyclists has many years of great moments ahead of it. But also all the young riders who are already starting to compete in important races show that the next generation is also going to be strong. Sagan is one of the oldest and yet no one can doubt that he will still give us great moments in the coming years. And then there's Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Pogaçar... they have a long career ahead of them.

Alberto Contador is a Discovery Sports cycling expert. Watch the Giro d'Italia LIVE on Eurosport, discovery+ and GCN+ from Friday 6 May to Sunday 29 May 2022.