A friend was riding up Albuquerque’s long Tramway Hill Sunday when he was passed by a lone rider on a time trial bike in full Team Astana kit. Astana, current home of last year’s Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, had been training in Albuquerque. We thought they had gone, but Contador was apparently still in town Sunday.

Tramway is a great training ride, a long sustained climb, not terribly steep. It has big wide shoulders, which is where we ride, leaving plenty of room for the cars. But not Contador. He was out in the lane, my friend noted, making the cars go around him.

The yellow jersey carries with it certain prerogatives.