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49th Vuelta al País Vasco - ProTSpain, April 6-11, 2009Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Previous Stage Stage 6 - April 11: Zalla - Zalla, 24kmContador untouchable in Basque countryBy Monika Prell in Zalla Astana's Alberto Contador proved himself to be untouchable in the Tour of the Basque country, putting in a dominant final time trial to seal his overall victory as well as the stage win. The three-time Grand Tour champion clocked in a 31:59 for the 24km distance, and only Antonio Colom (Katusha) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) could come within a minute of that mark. The three fastest also made up the race's final podium. Contador, who already took home the overall title at the Vuelta ao Algarve in March, set the fastest times at the first check after five kilometres and held his lead until the end. Colom and Liquigas' Vincenzo Nibali were the next fastest at the early check, but the Italian would fade over the second half. "It's incredible how I continue to progress in my time trial work," said Contador. "Two, three years ago this would have been impossible. I am a typical climber; in theory we are not so strong in time trial work. This gives me confidence for the next goal, the Tour de France. Maybe from now on I must concentrate on longer time trials as well." The Astana team had its share of mishaps during the tour. It lost a valuable domestique when Chris Horner crashed out of the race, and Daniel Navarro, who went down in the same wreck, suffered trying to work for Contador on the final mass start day. "This time I had many doubts if I would be able to win the Vuelta al País Vasco," said Contador. "I felt good but we had some difficult stages to ride, and in the end all riders are equal and everybody can have bad days." He dedicated the victory to his team, saying he was happy he could repay their hard work with a victory. Second placed Toni Colom was surprised to have made the final podium, where he finished second just 30 seconds behind Contador. "I hope to go on with this evolution and to win more races. I hoped to do a good time trial, I have worked a lot in my time trial skills this year. I still have to get better to best Contador." Samuel Sánchez, who finished third, was content about the result of his team. "We did what we could, and the balance is positive for the team. Egoi [Martínez] has won the sprint classification and I the point classification, and having a rider on the podium is always a great thing for a team. The only thing we lacked is a stage win. Now I will try to recuperate a time before continue in the preparation for my next goals, the Vuelta a España and the World Championships." Despite having obvious good form, Contador is heading for a rest period instead of defending his title in the Giro d'Italia. He has his eyes set on the Tour de France in July. "With seven victories, I may not complain about my first part of the season. Now I really need some rest. When I take off, I can really forget the bike. My bike will have the time to be covered with some dust. I need that to clear my mind and to begin fresh in part two of the season." How it unfoldedThe little town of Zalla (Vizcaya) was the setting for the last stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco. A lot of fans had come to cheer for their heroes, and the weather was nice. Some rain fell during the afternoon, but at the start and finish the sun was out for the most part. As there were only 82 riders who took part in this last stage, the first one, Laurent Léfèvre from the team BBox Bouygues Télécom, started at 3:30 pm. Italian time trial champion Marco Pinotti, who won Friday's fifth stage, set the fastest early time of 33:17 for Columbia-Highroad. While in the start zone the fans of Samuel Sánchez tried to cheer their hero louder than the fans of Alberto Contador, Australian Michael Rogers from the surpassed his teammate Pinotti, setting the new best time at 33:08. The next riders had a bit bad luck, as it started to rain when they were passing the Alto de Avellaneda, and so they went a bit slower in the descent. The bad weather affected mostly the Spanish time trial champion Luis León Sánchez (Caisse d'Epargne), who finished four seconds slower than Rogers. Already in the intermediate point after 12 kilometers it was clear that under normal conditions, Contador would win the race, as he was faster than his rivals. But first, Toni Colom set a new best time, 32:21. Samuel Sánchez was not able to beat him and finished 23 slower, a result that brought him to the third step of the podium. Contador blazed to glory as the only rider to go under the 32 minute mark, and became the first rider in the history of this race to win it two times in a row. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Susanne Goetze / www.cyclinginside.com
Results1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 31.59 (45.023 km/h) 2 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Team Katusha 0.22 3 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.45 4 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - Highroad 1.09 5 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.13 6 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 1.18 7 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 1.22 8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 1.25 9 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 10 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 1.26 11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 1.36 12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 1.41 13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 1.43 14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad 1.44 15 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 1.46 16 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 1.49 17 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia - Highroad 18 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank 1.51 19 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam 1.56 20 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia - Highroad 2.02 21 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam 2.11 22 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux 2.13 23 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.28 24 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 2.31 25 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto 2.33 26 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 27 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 2.46 28 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 2.47 29 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank 30 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 2.50 31 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia - Highroad 32 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 33 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 2.54 34 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 35 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3.00 36 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 3.07 37 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3.09 38 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis 3.14 39 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 3.17 40 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram 3.22 41 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.23 42 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 43 Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.25 44 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3.26 45 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 46 Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas 3.27 47 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas 3.29 48 Iker Camaño Ortuzar (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 3.34 49 Francis De Greef (Bel) Silence-Lotto 3.35 50 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Slipstream 3.36 51 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana 3.42 52 Oscar Pujol Muñoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam 53 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Saxo Bank 3.49 54 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 3.52 55 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 3.53 56 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Liquigas 3.56 57 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 4.03 58 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 4.08 59 Óscar Freire Gómez (Spa) Rabobank 60 David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 4.14 61 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 4.17 62 Mevel Christophe Le (Fra) Française Des Jeux 4.25 63 Joan Horrach (Spa) Team Katusha 4.26 64 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 4.33 65 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 4.35 66 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Astana 4.51 67 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 4.52 68 Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 69 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 4.58 70 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 71 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Team Katusha 5.01 72 Javier Echarri Marín (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 5.17 73 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 5.24 74 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 5.33 75 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux 5.37 76 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas 6.08 77 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Astana 6.17 78 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 6.21 79 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 6.23 80 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha 6.25 81 Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux 6.30 82 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha 6.57 DNS Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step DNS Daniel Navarro García (Spa) Astana DNS Rubén Pérez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi DNS Mikel Nieve (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi Points 1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 25 pts 2 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Team Katusha 20 3 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 16 4 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - Highroad 14 5 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 12 6 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 10 7 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 9 8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 8 9 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 7 10 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 6 11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 5 12 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4 13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 3 14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad 2 15 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 1 Teams 1 Team Columbia - High Road 1.40.08 2 Astana 1.14 3 Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.57 4 Liquigas 2.33 5 Rabobank 2.51 6 Caisse d'Epargne 2.53 7 Team Saxo Bank 3.20 8 Team Milram 3.31 9 Cervelo Test Team 3.38 10 Quick Step 4.59 11 Lampre - N.G.C 5.16 12 Team Katusha 5.35 13 Fuji-Servetto 6.10 14 AG2R La Mondiale 6.27 15 Bbox Bouygues Telecom 6.45 16 Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 7.30 17 Française des Jeux 8.04 Final General classification 1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 20.48.30 2 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Team Katusha 0.30 3 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.53 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 1.33 5 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.48 6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 1.53 7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 1.57 8 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - Highroad 2.20 9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 2.30 10 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 2.35 11 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 3.00 12 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux 3.07 13 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.39 14 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4.01 15 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto 4.07 16 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 4.18 17 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 4.22 18 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis 5.07 19 Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas 5.18 20 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 21 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 5.19 22 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank 5.49 23 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 6.32 24 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam 6.38 25 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 7.15 26 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Team Columbia - Highroad 7.45 27 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 7.55 28 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 8.14 29 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 8.58 30 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Saxo Bank 9.26 31 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux 10.04 32 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia - Highroad 10.49 33 Francis De Greef (Bel) Silence-Lotto 10.58 34 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 11.16 35 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 11.17 36 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 12.23 37 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 13.40 38 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 13.44 39 David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 14.32 40 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 14.44 41 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank 15.03 42 Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 15.21 43 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 16.21 44 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 16.49 45 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 16.55 46 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam 17.32 47 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 18.53 48 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad 18.58 49 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 20.28 50 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 20.57 51 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Team Katusha 21.10 52 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram 21.36 53 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana 21.41 54 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 21.54 55 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas 23.06 56 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Astana 24.05 57 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Slipstream 24.50 58 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Team Katusha 25.09 59 Óscar Freire Gómez (Spa) Rabobank 25.34 60 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 26.19 61 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 26.58 62 Iker Camaño Ortuzar (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 28.16 63 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 30.00 64 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Liquigas 30.54 65 Javier Echarri Marín (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 31.25 66 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 33.10 67 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 33.39 68 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas 34.07 69 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia - Highroad 34.21 70 Mevel Christophe Le (Fra) Française Des Jeux 34.25 71 Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux 34.26 72 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 34.32 73 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 35.09 74 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha 35.37 75 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 35.52 76 Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 36.02 77 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 37.45 78 Joan Horrach (Spa) Team Katusha 40.02 79 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 41.09 80 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Astana 41.58 81 Oscar Pujol Muñoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam 51.57 82 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom 56.05 Points classification 1 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 61 pts 2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 59 3 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 58 4 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha 50 5 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 37 6 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Team Katusha 36 7 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 35 8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 34 9 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 31 10 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 25 11 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 25 12 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 24 13 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - Highroad 23 14 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 20 15 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 20 16 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 19 17 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Saxo Bank 19 18 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 17 19 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 14 20 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 13 21 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram 12 22 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 11 23 David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 10 24 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 9 25 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 8 26 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto 7 27 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux 6 28 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 6 29 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam 5 30 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4 31 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 4 32 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 3 33 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 3 34 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana 3 35 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad 2 36 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank 2 37 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 1 Sprints classification 1 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6 pts 2 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 6 3 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 5 4 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 4 5 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 3 6 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 3 7 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 3 8 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 9 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 2 10 David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 2 11 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 2 12 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Team Katusha 2 13 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas 1 14 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 1 Mountains classification 1 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis 37 pts 2 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 35 3 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 21 4 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis 19 5 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 14 6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C. 12 7 José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis - AMPO 12 8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 11 9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 9 10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 8 11 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 8 12 David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 8 13 Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom 7 14 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6 15 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 6 16 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Team Katusha 5 17 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad 5 18 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 5 19 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Team Katusha 4 20 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia - Highroad 3 21 Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 22 Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2 23 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 1 24 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1 25 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R La Mondiale 1 Teams classification 1 Caisse d'Epargne 62.35.14 2 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.01 3 Liquigas 0.39 4 Team Columbia - High Road 4.10 5 Team Saxo Bank 4.27 6 Astana 6.18 7 Rabobank 6.28 8 Quick Step 12.00 9 Team Katusha 15.12 10 Lampre - N.G.C 17.03 11 Team Milram 22.45 12 Fuji-Servetto 23.53 13 Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 25.43 14 AG2R La Mondiale 33.12 15 Française des Jeux 34.18 16 Cervelo Test Team 44.10 17 Bbox Bouygues Telecom 53.04 |
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