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There are no beaches in Utah, but I like America, and there is a cool West Coast vibe in Utah that chimes with my Tour of California experiences. I had a great time in Park City. Train hard. Kick back. Repeat.

Back in Europe in June, I went to the Tour of Switzerland, picked up a couple more stages and my fifth points jersey in five appearances there. I then had a brief visit home to Slovakia and got my fifth national road race championship, ensuring I’d have my own personal jersey for another year.

Whether I cared or not, it seemed I was ready for the Tour de France.

I would be riding the Tour de France alongside Alberto Contador at Tinkoff. We’d spoken together in the bunch ever since my very first European pro race, Paris–Nice in 2010, and had always got on well. There was no thought in my mind that we might have a problem racing a big event together. There was no need for me to be known as a co-leader or to have another kind of designation that other people might need to make them feel important. He was the leader. He had proved over many seasons that he was probably the best G.C. rider of his generation. He’d had his problems with the UCI and served a disputed ban, but he still had massive respect in the peloton and a massive point to prove, too. Going into that 2015 race, he had an amazing seven Grand Tour victories, plus two more that the UCI had scratched out for doping. As a result, he was looking for his third legitimate Tour de France win, going up against Sky’s Chris Froome, Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali, and the Movistar duo of Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde.