With today’s time trial and tomorrow’s mountain stage the only opportunities left to attack the GC before Madrid, Alberto Contador was focused on giving his everything over the 37km TT course between Xàbia and Calp. By the end of the tough, windy stage Alberto posted a time of 48’30”, placing him eighth on the day, and seeing him jump one place on GC to third.
Alberto said after the stage: “I got off to a good start and the first part of the time trial went very well. There was a strong wind but I knew it was there I could make a difference on Chaves. Then it became tougher and I had a hard time keeping a steady pace of watts, it was stop and go. I didn’t feel the way I would have liked, the effort took its toll but I’m satisfied with the result.
“The truth is that it is a shame things got wrong-footed from the beginning of the Vuelta. Because of my crash and other factors, I currently am not facing the best possible scenario, I would have liked to be fighting for another goal, but after all, we can’t complain. Froome did an extraordinary race today. Maybe they still have options, but they will, obviously, have to make a move tomorrow. It will be all or nothing for them and we’ll see whether we can take advantage of that. I will try something on the Alto de Aitana.”
The rolling course with a testing climb in the first half was also subject to strong winds so the riders had to be attentive throughout. Starting the race at a fast tempo, Alberto posted the third quickest time at the first time check, immediately showing his intent to keep chasing the top spot to the end.
He held a strong rhythm, posting strong splits and eventually coming home with a time that would see him finish eighth, 1’57” down on the stage winner. Importantly, Alberto was faster than two of the three riders ahead of him on GC which saw the gap close slightly ahead of tomorrow’s tough mountain test.
Steven de Jongh gave his thoughts on Alberto’s ride, saying: “He did a very consistent time trial and took time on all but one of his main rivals by the finish. It was tough out there with the wind and you had to pay attention on the downhills as it was tricky with the disc wheel, but he handled it well. Froome was exceptional today, but Alberto put in a strong fight and moves up on some of his rivals.
“Tomorrow is definitely a very hard stage and I think a lot of things can still happen. Maybe Froome will have a go, maybe Chaves will want to try to get back on the podium. So I think it will be a very interesting stage.”
Manuele Boaro was the next fastest for Tinkoff, in 28th position, as the rest of the guys focused on making it safely through the stage to support their leader in the final two days of the race.
Tomorrow’s penultimate stage takes in a 193.2km route covering five classified climbs, four second category ascents and an especial category climb to the finish line – the Alto de Aitana. At 21km in length, and with gradients that gradually get tougher as the climb progresses, the final climb to the line will prove to be another big GC test before the last ride into Madrid on Sunday.
Stage Result
1. Christopher Froome (GBR) Team Sky 00:46:33
2. Jonathan Castroviejo (SPA) Movistar +00:00:44
3. Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) Team Giant-Alpecin +00:01:24
4. Yves Lampaert (BEL) Etixx – Quickstep +00:01:26
5. Victor Campenaerts (BEL) Team LottoNL – Jumbo +00:01:47
8. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:01:57
28. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +00:03:30
57. Daniele Bennati (ITA) Tinkoff +00:05:19
63. Sergio Paulinho (POR) Tinkoff +00:05:32
69. Yuri Trofimov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:05:49
116. Michael Gogl (AUT) Tinkoff +00:07:14
127. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +00:07:54
141. Jesús Hernández (SPA) Tinkoff +00:08:21
GC After Stage 19
1. Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar 75:18:52
2. Christopher Froome (GBR) Team Sky +00:01:21
3. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:03:43
37. Yuri Trofimov (RUS) Tinkoff +01:20:02
52. Jesús Hernández (SPA) Tinkoff +01:37:47
68. Michael Gogl (AUT) Tinkoff +02:22:04
101. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +03:02:47
107. Daniele Bennati (ITA) Tinkoff +03:10:05
116. Sergio Paulinho (POR) Tinkoff +03:24:23
148. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +04:19:10
