Having landed his first victory of the season yesterday on the toughest mountain stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, Alberto Contador showed his time trialing legs are also in good condition when he raced to victory in today’s concluding stage. The Spanish Saxo Bank SunGard rider was clearly quickest, covering the 12.4 kilometre course in Murcia eight second quicker than the promising young Frenchman Jerome Coppel (Saur Sojasun).
Denis Menchov, who finished two steps behind Contador on last year’s Tour de France podium, was again third. He was four seconds further behind Coppel, and seven ahead of the impressive young British rider, Alex Dowsett (Sky Procycling).
”I'm immensely happy about this victory. It proves that I have been doing my preparations perfectly,” he said after receiving the final yellow jersey in the event. “More importantly, I'm really happy about being with this team. Everyone's really supportive and together we have the strength to conquer several more magnificent victories in the future.”
The race is Contador’s second of the season. He was fourth in the recent Volta ao Algarve and has clearly gained form and sharpness since then.
VeloNation blogger Alexander Wetterhall took a fine seventh place in the TT for Endura Racing, while Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervélo) and his team-mate Dave Zabriskie were ninth and tenth respectively. World under 23 champion Michael Matthews (Rabobank) also rode solidly, netting 13th and showing that he is more than just a sprinter.
Contador’s solo victory yesterday and time trial success today earned him a final winning margin of eleven and seventeen seconds respectively over Coppel and Menchov, while Vacansoleil’s Wout Poels was just off the podium in fourth.
He could potentially move up to third, with Coppel taking the overall win, if Contador’s clearing by the RFEC is successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It is thought quite likely that either the UCI or WADA will contest the dismissal of his charges for his Clenbuterol positive. In that case, it would put him in a similar situation to Alejandro Valverde last year.
As things stand, though, the race was a highly successful one for the Saxo Bank-SunGard team. In addition to Contador’s two stage victories plus the overall classification success, the Danish squad also landed the points and teams classifications.
Directeur sportif Dan Frost said that the Spaniard helped motivate the other riders to also ride well. “Alberto did a perfect time trial and simply underlines his great condition. The victory is a relief for him and for the team,” he stated. “His presence alone has an outstanding effect on our younger riders, Manuele and Jaroslaw who both did outstanding performances today.”
Contador’s next races are the Volta a Catalunya and the Vuelta Castilla y Leon. It is also likely he will ride at least one of the Ardennes Classics prior to training for the Giro d’Italia.