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Alberto Contador wins the 2008 Giro d'Italia
Pinotti wins the final time trial, Ricco puts up little fight
Now Alberto Contador can go back to the beach.
After interrupting a vacation a month ago to pack his bags to head to Italy, the defending Tour de France champion secured one of the most unlikely victories in cycling history to claim the 91st Giro d’Italia on Sunday.
“It’s never been so worth it to leave a vacation early,” Contador said. “I didn’t know I was coming to the Giro until eight days before the race. This Giro has a special flavor and perhaps means more to me than last year’s Tour.”
Decking out head-to-toe in pink in Sunday’s 28.5km final time trial, it was obvious that Contador had no intention of letting go of the maglia rosa.
He finished 11th to widen his margin to runner-up Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir) from four seconds to 1:57 to become just the second Spanish rider to win the Giro.
Marco Pinotti (High Road) won seven seconds ahead of teammate Tony Martin with Christian Vande Velde and Danny Pate stopping the clock in fifth and sixth, respectively, to give Slipstream-Chipotle a perfect ending to their first three-week tour that opened with victory in the team time trial and the maglia rosa on May 10.
Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) rounded out the podium by fending off Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) by just two seconds to claim third with Denis Menchov (Rabobank) slotting into fifth.
But Sunday was all about Contador. His second grand tour victory within a year has Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel comparing him to seven-time Tour champ Lance Armstrong.
“I think we’re seeing a new phenomenon like Lance. I don’t like to compare riders, but from what I’ve seen in him I’ve only seen in Lance, especially in the mountains,” said Bruyneel. “It’s a very unexpected victory. If he can win the Giro at 80 percent, I see a very big future for Alberto.”
A reluctant Contador was uncertain he would even finish the Giro and brushed off a crash that left him with a banged up elbow in the first week.
Two key stages in the first half of the Giro proved critical to his eventual victory.
The first was the stage 7, the first summit finish in the Giro, when he was able to stay with accelerations from Riccò, defending champion Danilo Di Luca (LPR) and Leonardo Piepoli. The other critical moment was the 38km time trial in stage 10, when Contador took nearly two minutes on Riccò.
Contador then rode into the decisive Dolomites stage poised to capture the maglia rosa. He faltered against a screed of attacks on the tough summit finish to Pampeago, but snagged the pink jersey the following day to the Fedaia summit.
He gained back a few seconds on the Plan de Corones climbing time trial, but came under heavy fire from Di Luca and Riccò in Friday’s final summit finish at Monte Pora, keeping the pink jersey by a slender four seconds thanks to solid work from his Astana teammates.
Once he fended off Riccò over the Mortirolo on Saturday, the Giro was practically his going into Sunday’s final time trial.
So much so, that the precocious Riccò reached across to Contador to shake his hand at the finish line Saturday to say, “Congratulations, this Giro is yours.”
“My hardest day was the stage to Pampeago with the first summit finish in the Dolomites,” Contador said. “When I defended my pink jersey on the Fedaia, I began to believe in my possibilities to win the Giro.”
Contador’s victory in the Giro comes almost as unexpected as his win in last year’s Tour de France, when overall leader Michael Rasmussen removed from the race with just four days to go.
Contador refused to believe his victories had anything to do with luck.
“I don’t feel like a great champion, but a very good rider,” he said. “But the surprise victories ended a long time ago. Even when I came to this Giro without being in the best of shape, I was still among the favorites to win.”
Contador promises to have a big fiesta Sunday in Milan and return to Spain this week. After a few days at his home in El Pinto, he’ll be heading back to the beach.
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