Cycling: Fighting for seconds, defects, favorite falls: The Giro d'Italia 2015 is a spectacular race - and yet it seems already decided. Velomotion draws an interim conclusion.
Ahead of the crucial third week of the Giro d'Italia everything points to a victory for the big favorite Aberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo). The Madrilenian was in the expected top form at the starting line of the Giro in San Lorenzo al Mare and has shone on almost every terrain in the past two weeks. Even falls didn't bother him. With 2 minutes and 35 seconds he has already built up a solid lead over second-placed Fabio Aru (Astana). Contador could confine himself to defending his time cushion in the strenuous third week and, with a view to his desired Giro Tour double, refraining from his own exhausting attacks. But such an accountant's mentality doesn't really suit the aggressive Spaniard. Again and again he attacked in the past two weeks and put his opponents under pressure with attacks in Abetone, Imola and Vicenza. Contador also stole seconds from his opponents several times by getting involved in intermediate sprints and securing time bonuses.
From among the top favorites, only Fabio Aru showed a similarly offensive driving style. The Astana captain attacked in La Spezia, Campitello Matese and San Giorgio de Sannio, forcing Contador to constantly react and pay more attention. Favored by a mass crash in which Contador was involved on the stage to Jesolo, Aru even managed the feat of taking the pink jersey from the Spaniard. However, the joy was short-lived: already on the following day, Contador dismantled the overall classification competition in the time trial of Valdobbiadene and finished third in the Maglia Rosa again. While the gaps at the top have been a heated battle for seconds, Aru now faces the difficult task of having to catch up over two and a half minutes.
The big death of favorites
Behind the two leaders Contador and Aru, however, the dreams of the other favorites were shattered one after the other. Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) was hit the hardest, after a terrible fall on the third stage retired. Rigoberto Urán (Etixx-Quick Step) is not in the same form this year as he was in 2013 and 2014, when he was one of the protagonists of the Giro, wearing the pink jersey and finishing second in the finals. In La Spezia he was already unable to follow the pace of the leading group and since then, with the exception of the mountain finish in Campitello Matese, he has continued to lose feathers in all decisive stages - even in his favorite discipline, the time trial. Richie Porte (Team Sky) had good prospects for a long time and confirmed his status as a favourite. With Contador, Aru and the amazing Mikel Landa (Astana), Porte looked to be among the strongest riders in this year's Giro. Only 22 seconds behind, he was in third place and was probably making attack plans for time trials and high mountains. But then he initially lost time due to a defect and was also given unauthorized, cross-team assistance two minute penalty. The mass crash in Jesolo added more minutes, and the hopeless position seems to have had an impact on the motivation of the little Australian: Porte had no chance in the time trial and on the mountain finish in Madonna di Campiglio and is now 27th overall, more than 35 minutes behind on Alberto Contador.
New protagonists
The discovery of this year's Giro is Mikel Landa. Fabio Aru's teammate didn't just win that Stage to Madonna di Campiglio, but also ranks fourth in the overall standings, 4 minutes 46 seconds behind. This puts Team Astana in the comfortable position of being able to attack Contador with two riders. However, this did not work in the direction of Madonna di Campiglio, as Landa, with his increased tempo and attacks, rather put his own captain Aru under great pressure. Contador's counter-attack lacked the power, otherwise Arus' significant loss of time would have created a bad situation within the Astana team. In addition to the Spaniard Landa, Audrey Amador (Movistar) from Costa Rica is also convincing. He is currently placed third. Like Landa, he has not yet been able to achieve a top result in major national tours. At the 2014 Tour of Spain, Amador was 30th and Landa was 28th. Amador's best finish in a three-week Tour is 29th at the 2012 Giro, where he also won the stage to Cervinia. He would love to triumph there next Friday, but Amador and Landa still have to show that they can maintain their level in the third Giro week. Because the Czech Leopold König (Team Sky) approaches from behind. Last year's seventh place in the Tour de France is the man for the overall classification at Team Sky after Portes dropped back. The podium in Milan is within reach for the former NetApp driver. Meanwhile, the young Davide Formolo (Team Cannondale) confirms his status as a great hope for youngsters: currently 21st overall, the 22-year-old is doing very well in his Grand Tour debut and already has the Stage to La Spezia won.
Exciting battles in week three
So what can we expect in week three of the Giro d'Italia? The Tour victory appears to be a matter between Contador and Aru with clear advantages for the Spaniard. But Astana's strength - barring disagreements between Aru and Landa - could be a burden for Contador. In the direction of Madonna di Campiglio, he was isolated from his Tinkoff-Saxo teammates early on and had to assert himself against the overwhelming majority of Astana. In addition, the examples of Pozzovivo and Porte clearly show how quickly all dreams can burst. Nevertheless, it is very likely that the winner in Milan will be Alberto Contador. The battle for the podium will be exciting, with experienced men like König, Yuri Trofimov (Katusha) and Maxime Monfort (Lotto-Soudal) wanting to have a say. The tough mountains of the last Giro week - most notably Tuesday's Mortirolo - will set the stage for some great battles between the riders.
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