Markina, 12th of April – 2014
In every aspect of the saying, it was the moment of truth for Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador when he rocketed off the starting ramp launching the final stage of Vuelta Pais Vasco – an individual time trial over 25.6 kilometers. A gap of only 12 seconds was the head start for Alberto against Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and on a lumpy course that suited them both very well, the race was completely open until the very end.
The big favorite to win the stage was undoubtedly the German TT World Champion, Tony Martin (Omega-Pharma Quick Step) and he lived up to his reputation as an extreme powerhouse and won a superb stage win.
However, Michael Kwiatkowski (Omega-Pharma Quick) delivered a heartfelt effort and finished second on the line, only 15 seconds behind his teammate and was now threatening Contador’s overall lead. But the Tinkoff-Saxo Spaniard fought heroically on the course to defend the lead thundering through the course with sensational power and pushed Kwiatkowsky down the podium to third spot as Contador finished second.
Tinkoff-Saxo DS, Philippe Mauduit was pleased with his rider:
“Alberto is simply super strong at the moment. He rode elegantly, regularly and with enormous power in the pedals. We knew that he was the best climber here and today he demonstrated that he’s one of the very best time trialists as well finishing only 7 seconds behind the world champion. For Alberto this is another boost of confidence which he needed before going home training to prepare for the Tour de France”, said a very happy Mauduit.
Alberto’s next race will be Criterium Dauphine Libéré in start June.
