Contador favourite for Giro

Turin - With a doping case still hanging over him, Alberto Contador goes into the Giro d'Italia as the big favourite in what he calls the "most difficult race I have ever faced."

The Spaniard races in the year's first multistage starting on Saturday after winning the Volta of Catalunya and Vuelta of Murcia.

The Giro starts with a team time trial in Turin and, after 19 stages, concludes with an individual time trial in Milan on May 29.

"At the start of the season after talking with the team we decided to focus our attention on this race," Contador said. "It will be the most difficult race I have ever faced. My objective is to have the pink jersey on the final day or at the least be in contention for it."

Contador, who tested positive for clenbuterol while winning last year's Tour de France, was cleared of doping by the Spanish cycling federation after he blamed the result on eating contaminated beef.

Cycling's governing body and the World Anti-Doping Agency have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is expected to issue a ruling before this year's Tour.

"I prefer not to think about that and only concentrate on sporting matters," Contador said. "The hearing with CAS is still in the future. I have total trust in the people that work for me and that we will get a favorable verdict."

Contador, winner of the 2008 Giro, says Spanish Vuelta winner Vincenzo Nibali will be his main challenger after defending champion Ivan Basso dropped out. Nibali emerged as the leading Italian contender after Basso withdrew due to poor conditioning.

"He has made a step up in class over the last two seasons," Contador said. "He did well in the 2009 Tour, then last year he was the last rider called up for the Giro and finished third.

"Then he won the Vuelta with great consistency, which shows how much he has matured. For me he is the favorite. He is a good racer and has spent the whole season thinking about the Giro."

Nine of the stages are rides of over 200km, while three have climbs of over 2 000m.

"It's just going to be mad," Garmin-Cervelo rider David Millar said. "The course is bananas. It's all over the place and ridiculously difficult. Then we have these transfers that are, again, catastrophic at times.

"It's very demanding physically and psychologically for everyone involved. It's exhausting from all angles. It'll be a good race, I think, because Italy will be behind Nibali and you'll have Contador there who's the world's best stage-race rider."