Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) took a huge step towards a second Giro d'Italia victory when he produced an imperious performance in the Nevegal mountain time trial. Last man off, the Spaniard was only the 13th fastest at the first check point, but judged his effort perfectly as the road kicked up towards Nevegal, where his climbing prowess took him clear of his rivals for the maglia rosa.
The Saxo Bank leader came home 34 seconds faster thanVincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) to claim his second stage victory of the race. Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) was another four seconds back in third place. José Rujano (Androni Giocattoli) was a surprising fourth, just a second down on Scarponi, with Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) eventually fifth after setting a mark that for some time looked good enough to win.
Contador's winning margin over his two main rivals meant that his overall lead is now just a couple of seconds shy of five minutes in front of Scarponi, with Nibali still in third at 5:45.
No comments:
Post a Comment