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Attack on the Angliru: Contador takes control
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Alberto Contador (Astana) is king of the hill in Spain.
Spain’s climbing sensation added more fodder to the argument that he’s the best contemporary rider with a thrilling victory atop the most vicious climb in Europe.
Contador attacked with 5km to go in Saturday’s 209.5km 13th stage to drive home victory up the feared Angliru climb and grab the overall lead at the Vuelta a España.
El Pistolero del Pinto – the Gunman of Pinto - spread his arms, pounded on his chest and fired off a round of his imaginary gun - “bang!” – as he crossed the line victorious and took control of the Vuelta with a week left to go.
“The race isn’t over until Madrid, but things went pretty well today,” said Contador after winning his first career Vuelta stage. “We all did what we could do. When I attacked, I was thinking about distancing (Carlos) Sastre. To win at the Angliru is the most important stage in Spain.
The 2007 Tour de France champion joins such climbing legends as José María Jiménez, Gilberto Simoni and Roberto Heras as winners on the Angliru climb.
Stage 13 - San Vicente de la Barquera to Alto de l’Angliru, 209.5km
● Winner: Alberto Contador (Astana) wins ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) for his first career Vuelta victory
● Leader: Contador takes over from Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), who fell to eighth at 6:56 back. Levi Leipheimer (Astana) remains second, now at 1:07 back
● Points: Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) kept his lead with 99 points, with Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) at 94 points
● KoM: David Moncoutie (Cofidis) maintained the jersey with 113 points, with the attacking Christophe Kern (Credit Agricole) pulling into second with 80 points
● Combined: Contador retains the jersey
● Team: Caisse d’Epargne retook the lead from Astana
● Peloton: Oscar Freire (Rabobank) DNS; Matthias Frank (Gerolstiner) DNF, Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) DNF – 152 riders remain
But more importantly, Contador moves into the overall lead, jumping from third to first at 1:07 ahead of teammate Levi Leipheimer.
Overnight leader Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was dropped at the base of the 12.2km Angliru climb and sank to eighth overall, opening the door for Astana.
The Spanish climber delivered the goods on the Vuelta’s most important stage and moves closer to becoming the fifth rider in history to win all three grand tours.
Contador won the Tour in 2007 and took a surprise victory in the 2008 Giro d’Italia and is now in the driver’s seat to secure the Vuelta, which ends Sept. 21 in Madrid.
At 25, he would become the youngest to achieve it. Closing in on victory and history helps take the sting away from missing the 2008 Tour de France after his team was banned from starting by race organizers.
“After all that’s happened, I would not swap what I’ve achieved this year for another Tour win right now. I am young and I have a lot of Tours ahead of me,” Contador said. “I’m 25 and if I get the Vuelta victory, it would be something historic. I’m having an unforgettable season.”
Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) crossed the line second at 42 seconds off the pace with teammate Joaquim Rodriguez taking third at 58 seconds back. Valverde, who toppled out of contention after losing more than three minutes in Thursday’s stage, revived his hopes of saving the Vuelta. With his strong performance, he climbed from 11th to fifth at 4:40 back.
“Alberto was better than us today, but he’s a pure climber and the stage was just perfect for him,” Valverde said. “We’re content with how the team rode today. I went at my own pace from the bottom to the top and I was able to stay close to Alberto and take back some time. The podium is closer now and I’m going to fight for it.”
After doing great work for Contador, Leipheimer dropped Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo Bank) with two kilometers to go to finish fifth at 1:05 back and remain second overall.
Defending Tour champion Sastre crossed the line fifth, moved up to third at 3:01 back, but couldn’t follow when Leipheimer set a brutal pace with 8km to go.
“I have to recover and think about what lies ahead, but there’s still a week left. There are still some opportunities, but Astana did a great job today and they have the Vuelta much clearer now,” Sastre said. “I didn’t have the best sensations. It’s a tough climb, perhaps better for the media than for the racers. I held on as long as I could, but when you’re not as strong as the others, you have to go at your own pace. In the end, it felt like it was eternal.”
Igor Antón – the young climbing prodigy on Euskaltel-Euskadi – crashed coming off the narrow and treacherous Alto del Cordal in the final 15km and broke his left collarbone.
Contador becomes the eighth leader’s jersey in the 2008 Vuelta, setting a new record in race history.
Up the Angliru
The Angliru was the decisive climb of the 63rd Vuelta and Astana wanted to dominate the stage.
With a three-man breakaway still dangling off the front after four rated climbs earlier in the stage, Astana put Andreas Klöden on the front of the lower, “easier” half of the 12.2km Angliru climb.
The two-time Tour podium man set a brutal pace that quickly sent overnight leader Martínez spinning out the back.
“I knew I would have a hard time today to keep the jersey,” Martínez said. “It was a blow for us when Antón crashed out. After that, it was hard to remain focused. When the favorites surged to the front, I knew my time in the leader’s jersey was over.”
That put Leipheimer into the virtual lead. With about 10km to go, only Christophe Kern (Credit Agricole) from the day’s main breakaway hung off the front.
Then it was José Luís “Chechu” Rubiera’s turn to set the rhythm for Astana.
With Contador glued on his wheel, the Spanish veteran rode like it was his last Vuelta. And it was supposed to be, until Lance Armstrong announced his comeback this week and asked Rubiera to postpone his retirement for one more year.
The group was soon whittled down to about 15 riders with eight kilometers to go.
Leipheimer took over at the Les Cabanes section, the first real nasty part of the climb with 21 percent ramps. His pace blew up the front pack and spit out Sastre and Robert Gesink (Rabobank).
Despite having the virtual lead, Leipheimer took his responsibility at the front of the lead group to work for Contador.
Leipheimer’s pull put everyone into the red and only Contador, Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d’Epargne) could follow.
“Levi is very professional and he knows his role. From the beginning of the stage, everyone had their place to work and everyone filled their roles to perfection. Despite holding the virtual lead, Levi went to the front and set the pace to allow Alberto to attack,” said Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel. “This time we’ll work to keep the jersey. We couldn’t expect more.”
With 6km to go, Valverde accelerated just as Sastre was trying to claw back. Leipheimer peeled off, but Contador and Rodriguez kept pace with Valverde.
Leipheimer waited for Sastre to catch up and then marked his wheel, opening the door for Contador to attack.
Contador made his first acceleration just under 5km to go. Rodriguez and Valverde stayed on the wheel, but Sastre faded back, ceding 23 seconds with Ezekial Mosquera (Xacaboe-Galicia), Gesink, Oliver Zaugg (Gerolsteiner) and Dani Moreno (Caisse d’Epargne) chasing at 35 seconds back.
Just when it looked like there might be some deal in the making, Contador accelerated again with about 3.5km to go to distance Valverde.
Rodriguez stayed close with Sastre suffering at 40 seconds back, but Contador surged a third time on a 20 percent ramp in the Cobayos section with just over 3km to go to drop Rodriguez for good.
In the feared La Cueña Les Cabres section – with ramps as 23.6 percent - Contador plowed through a mass of drunken, rowdy fans waving flags and taking photos. It was a potentially dangerous situation and the riders could barely fight their way through the crowds.
With Contador consolidating his grip with 2km to go, Leipheimer sprung off Sastre’s wheel and began to chase to keep alive his podium hopes.
The Spanish media were calling Leipheimer Contador’s most dangerous rival, but Leipheimer fulfilled his role to perfection. He worked for his team captain but retained his chances for the podium without betraying anyone.
“Levi did a great job today but he still has his option for the podium,” Bruyneel said. “Contador has been the leader of this team since the beginning of the race. That’s never changed.”
No hope break
Everyone was more than happy to see relatively benign weather ahead of the feared climb to the Angliru. Clouds and cool weather welcomed the remaining riders, but the predicted downpour held off other than a few light showers.
With five rated climbs, no one seemed to be in a big hurry to get started. Finally, Christophe Kern (Credit Agricole) snuck away around 30km. Matej Jurco (Milram) and Maarten Tjallingii (Silence-Lotto) finally gave chase at 40km and Kern waited for them after crowning the day’s first climb at the Cat. 3 Alto de Ortigueiro at 45km.
The day’s main break was set and the gap grew to 10 minutes at the first of three consecutive first category climbs at the Puerto de Arnicio at 116km.
The gap shrunk to eight minutes at the Cat. 1 Alto de la Colladona at 154km as the peloton paced itself patiently over the narrow, twisting roads of Asturias.
By the time the break hit the 5.5km Cat. 1 Alto de Cordal with 24km to go, Euskaltel and then Astana put fresh legs at the front of the chase.
Kern was the last man standing from the break, topping out of the Cordal summit with a two-minute lead. Astana was setting things up just the way it wanted.
Sunday’s stage
The 63rd Vuelta continues Sunday with the 158.4km 14th stage from Oviedo to the Fuentes de Invierno ski area.
The six-climb stage could prove fatal for any rider who hasn’t fully recovered from the Angliru.
The stage opens with three third category climbs in the opening 35km before tackling two first category climbs at 70km and 98km, respectively. The Alto de la Colladona at 70km was featured in Saturday’s climb.
The peloton will have a chance to regoup on a long, 30km grind up to the base of the first category climb to the Puerto de San Isidro and the Fuentes de Invierno ski area.
The 13.4km climb features an average grade of 6.1 percent with ramps as steep as 8 percent. It’s no Angliru, but it might feel like that for anyone with heavy legs.
