Alberto Contador moved a huge step closer to his third Vuelta a Espana victory as he saw off Britain’s Chris Froome to win a grueling 160.5km stage from San Martin del Rey Aurelio to La Farrapona, Spain, on Monday.
The Tinkoff-Saxo rider’s first stage victory of the race in a time of 4 hours, 53 minutes, 35 seconds took his overall lead to 1 minute, 36 seconds over compatriot Alejandro Valverde of Movistar, with Team Sky’s Froome a further three seconds adrift as he just failed to move into second in the general classification.
Italian Alessandro de Marchi of Cannondale claimed third on the day, which was also marred by the disqualifications of Italy’s Gianluca Brambilla and Russia’s Ivan Rovny for fighting just after the midway point of the stage.
Photo: AFP
“Today was a very good day for us,” said a delighted Contador, who only decided to compete in the race a week before it began after suffering a broken shinbone in the Tour de France in July. “I had the power I needed, I managed to keep going with the pace imposed by Froome and when I saw my opportunity I took advantage of it.”
The landmark stage of the race, including four category one climbs, was expected to play a decisive role in who is crowned the winner in Santiago de Compostela on Sunday.
However, the jousting between the general classification leaders had been overshadowed by the punch up between Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Brambilla and Rovny while they were part of a breakaway group of 13.
Photo: EPA
Rovny even had to ask for a new pair of sunglasses from his Tinkoff-Saxo team car as they were broken in the fight and despite riding on for more than an hour, both men were eventually told to stop and expelled from the race.
Froome eventually made a move with just 4km left of the long climb to the finish line.
Contador was able to follow last year’s Tour de France winner and the two managed to distance themselves from the chasing Valverde and Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez of Katusha.
However, Froome could not live with Contador’s acceleration in the final 500m as he strengthened his grip on the race with just five stages remaining.
“When Froome has a change of pace it is difficult to follow him, but I managed to do it, and I knew Valverde and Purito were behind, so it could be an important day for me,” Contador said. “What gives me more reassurance is that I am recovering well, I have the power in my legs despite the blow I suffered and now we have a rest day ahead of us that we need to make the most of.”
After yesterday’s rest day, the race returns with a flat 190.7km ride from Ortigueira to A Coruna today.
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