THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Sella takes a second stage as Contador dons maglia rosa
Under normal conditions, Alberto Contador (Astana) claiming the maglia rosa might bring some certainty to the 91st Giro d’Italia. But there’s nothing predictable about this explosive and unpredictable race with a week still to go.
The defending Tour de France champ faltered in Sunday’s six-climb, 154km 15th stage, but had just enough spin in his legs to slink into the overall lead by 33 seconds — a lead that by his own admission might be only temporary.
“We are going to enjoy this moment because tomorrow at Plan de Corones is another hard day,” said a resigned Contador, who becomes the first Spaniard since Juan Carlos Dominguez in 2002 to wear the maglia rosa. “(Riccardo) Riccò is very strong and I am not at my best level. Tomorrow we have another very hard day, so we’ll see.”
Sunday saw Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare) win his second straight summit finish with a solo attack out of a five-man group with 12km to go, but it was Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) who took the Giro by the horns, launching a searing attack with less than 3km to go up the grueling 13.35km Passo Fedaia.
The self-styled “Cobra” lived up to his hype, dropping an elite group that included Contador, defending champ Danilo Di Luca (LPR), two-time Vuelta a España champ Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni (Diquigiovanni-Androni) to take an eight-second time bonus with third.
“The legs were better and I had no problems breathing like yesterday. There’s still a lot of spectacle to come in this Giro and nothing is decided,” Riccò said. “I came very close to the maglia rosa. I saw when my rivals attacked and later they were fatigued, so I tried my luck. I wanted to take as much time as possible on my rivals and take the pink jersey.”
Riccò, 23, fell short of swapping his best young rider’s white jersey for the pink one — he now sits second overall — but with a week to race and five riders within one minute of Contador going into Monday’s decisive time trial, a 12.9km ascent of the packed gravel roads at Plan de Corones, everyone agrees this Giro is far from over.
“I don’t have the same strength as last year, but we are still right there. There are six of us fighting for the win,” said Di Luca, now third at 55 seconds back. “I absolutely do not I think this Giro is over. Nothing will be decided until the final time trial in Milan.”
After Contador stepped off the podium, he had to reconsider his situation. If he can defend his lead in Monday's ITT, he could have several days in which to become accustomed to the pink jersey.
“I think it’s the perfect moment to take the maglia rosa. I came close yesterday with 5 seconds, so today to have it is the best moment,” Contador said.
“Tomorrow is a time trial, and I won’t need my team. For them, it’s more or less a rest day. The following days are more normal stages so that we can control the race. Without a doubt, the remaining two time trials should benefit me.”
If Contador can end Monday in the pink jersey, maybe this Giro will seem more routine after all.
Up the Marmolada
A quintet of breakaway riders featuring three from CSF-Navigare hit the base of the final climb nursing a two-minute lead on about 20 riders that included most of the GC contenders. Sella bolted away with about 12.5km to go to try his luck for a second straight victory and opened up a 53-second gap with 9km to go.
“I couldn’t imagine that I would be able to win again today,” Sella said. “The legs felt good when we hit the base of the Fedaia. I told (teammate Fortunato) Baliani, ‘I’m going to go for it.’ I just poured my forces into the pedals.”
Alessandro Spezialetti (LPR) set the pace for “The Killer” on the lower flanks among the front pack, while Sylvester Szmyd (Lampre) was there for Marzio Bruseghin. Contador struggled alone earlier in the stage up the Giau, but Maxim Iglinsky managed to latch back on to lend a hand in the final shootout.
Bruseghin was nearly knocked off his bike by the squeeze of over-zealous fans with about 5km to go. The Lampre captain bounced into Contador and had to re-clip into his pedals.
Riccò opened up the fun with about 3km to go, turning the screws to drop some remnants of the front pack. Following the Cobra’s wheel were Contador, Domenico Pozzoviva (CSF Group), Menchov and Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas), with Vincenzo Nibali dropping back from the front group to help his teammate. Trailing just back were Simoni and Di Luca.
Baliani, meanwhile, dropped out of the front group and helped Pozzovivo make a run out of the Contador-Riccò group.
Riccò went again, drawing out Menchov and Contador, passing Rodriguez from the breakaway. Riccò kept turning the screws, distancing Contador and Menchov. Simoni was fighting back as the riders were strung out in a thin line of suffering.
“The head’s good but the legs are tired. I saw a very high level today and it was hard to make a difference, but I expected more today,” said Simoni. “We’re all still close and nothing is decided. There’s still a lot of fighting left in this Giro.”
Riccò continued to methodically climb out of the saddle, but he couldn’t shake the stubborn Contador. With 2km to go, Contador surged ahead again to drop Di Luca, Simoni and Menchov to close in on Riccò.
With 1200 meters to go, Riccò held a slender gap on Contador while Sella was up the road taking his second straight victory after yet another dramatic attack.
Giau packs some pow
The 153km, six-climb stage from Arabba to Passo Fedaia/Marmolada had epic written all over it. The stage was highlighted by some biggies, including Passo Pordoi (9.2km, averaging 6.9 percent), Passo di San Pellegrino (11.8km at 6.4 percent), Passo Giau (15.7km at 7.9 percent) and the final climb to the Passo Fedaia, at 13.3km at 8 percent, with some pitches reaching a spirit-busting 18 percent.
Good-sized crowds gathered in Arabba under cloudy but cool conditions. With the route heading straight up the spectacular Pordoi climb (where the cheesy Sylvester Stallone movie, “Cliffhanger,” was filmed), attacks came fast and early.
Levi Leipheimer (Astana) tried to get into a move with José Rujano (Caisse d’Epargne) setting a blistering pace. That was reeled in when nine riders finally pulled clear. In the move were: Vladimir Miholjevic (Liquigas), Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Felix Cardenas (Barloworld), Evgeni Petrov (Tinkoff), mountains king Sella and Baliani (CSF-Navigare), Vladimir Karpets and Joaquin Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Jens Voigt (CSC).
A sense of routine set in as the breakaway worked together up and over the San Pelligrino climb at 49km nursing a two-minute lead on the LPR-controlled peloton. Gabriele Bosisio (LPR) was looking pretty in pink, but it wasn’t going to last.
After zipping up the Cat. 2 San Tomaso Agordino climb at 72.3km, Baliani attacked out of the breakaway and eventually drew out Rodriguez and Sella. They would be blithely unaware of the impending doom exploding in their wake.
Bosisio’s grip on pink ended on the lower ramps of the 15.7km climb up the towering Giau, the day’s highest summit at 2236 meters.
As soon as Bosisio faded, Liquigas sent British climbing ace Charlie Wegelius to the front to set a fevered pace. The Brit’s efforts put the hurt on the peloton and ripped a hole through the pack midway up the climb.
Leipheimer and then Andreas Klöden (Astana) were both unable to match the pace as the lead pack soon dwindled to less than 20. Paolo Savoldelli (LPR) drifted back to try to help tow Bosisio while the likes of Contador, Simoni and Menchov were soon isolated without teammates.
Pellizotti then attacked out of the pack, drawing out Pozzovivo. The pace was brutal as Di Luca counter-attacked in their wake, drawing out Menchov, Simoni and Riccò, but Contador struggled again to keep the pace.
The spindly Spanish climber was looking around for some help. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Silence-Lotto) and Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) were also struggling as the peloton was flying to pieces like broken china.
“There arrived a moment when I didn’t feel very good. When they started to attack, I chased Riccò and Menchov, but I couldn’t get their wheel. I thought that my possibilities of taking the pink jersey were very slim,” Contador said. “Then when we started to climb the Marmolada, my sensations were very different. I was totally focused on the pink jersey.”
Riders from the breakaway were latching onto the attacking riders, with Cardenas and Miholjevic helping drive the moves.
The definitive splits were made: At the Giau summit, Sella led the way to grab more KoM points with Baliani and Rodriguez still in tow. More riders pulled through to form a group of about a baker’s dozen at 1:56 with all the main GC players still there. Bosisio and the pink jersey were more than four minutes back.
With 40km to race, the Contador group was still two minutes behind the leading trio as they tackled the Cat. 2 Passo Falzorego. The maglia rosa and crew remained nearly five minutes in arrears.
Mexican climber Julio Pérez-Cuapio (CSF-Panaria) and Nibali shot away from the Contador group on the Falzarego. The weather deteriorated further, and the leading trio of Baliani, Rodriguez and Sella kept their rain jackets on for the ascent, summiting with less than a minute on Perez Cuapio and Nibali and twice that on the Contador group. The maglia rosa had drifted further back, crossing at 5:30 behind the leaders.
Nibali dropped like a bomb on the long, treacherous 19km descent to bridge out to the leading trio, with the more cautious Pérez-Cuapio eventually latching on toward the base of the Fedaia. That made it a fivesome up front — three of them CSF Group riders — holding two minutes’ advantage on the Contador group as they drove toward the final obstacle of the day, the Marmolada.
Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) laid it down in the miserable conditions and exited the race, as up front Sella had yet another dig on the lower slopes of the Marmolada, quickly taking a minute’s lead over his erstwhile companions with 10km to race. The Contador group was 2:35 down, with Spezialetti setting pace for Di Luca.
And Bosisio? He was all alone in pink, more than six minutes down. The race leader eventually crossed the finish line in 39th position, nearly 15 minutes behind the victorious Sella, surrendering the maglia rosa to Contador. How long he keeps it remains to be seen.
