Cycling: Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) has found the perfect end to his career. The Spaniard won stage 20 of the Vuelta a España up to the Alto de L'Angliru. As expected, the overall victory goes to Briton Chris Froome (Sky).
Who's afraid of the Angliru?
The Alto de L'Angliru is so big that it casts its shadow ahead. When the stage profiles were announced, it was already clear to all the experts that this ascent at the end of the three weeks, which were already tough anyway, would be a real challenge. The final climb is 12,5 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 9,8 percent. If you are in a bad shape on the day, you can lose several minutes here. That was the hope of Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), who was 97 seconds behind leader Chris Froome (Sky) in the standings before the start of the stage. Since today's section was only supposed to be 117,5 kilometers long, action was inevitable from the start.
Davide Villella wins the mountains classification of the Vuelta a España
As expected, the battle for the leading group began right after the start of the stage. Among others, Nicolas Roche (BMC), Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), Marc Soler (Movistar), Sören Kragh Andersen (Sunweb), Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe), Romain Bardet (Ag2r), Rui Costa (UAE ), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto-Soudal) and the Yates brothers (Orica-Scott). However, Trek-Segafredo kept the breakaway's lead in check. Alberto Contador wanted to end his career with a stage win at the Vuelta a España. In the climbs and descents before the Angliru, the group kept falling apart. In the midst of the hard-fought stage, a decision has already been made: Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) will win the mountains classification of the Vuelta.
# LV2017 Y'all know what this means right??! If @davide_villella finishes the stage, he'll #rockthedots on the podium in Madrid tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/j8djOsVMCO
— Cannondale-Drapac (@Ride_Argyle) September 9, 2017
Contador attacked - escape caught
Then came Alberto Contador's expected attack. The Spaniard, along with teammate Jarlinson Pantano, attacked ahead of the Angliru. He was able to break away and collect breakaway after breakaway up the Angliru. When he was able to catch the last fugitive with Soler, the stage victory was within reach. Meanwhile, in the group of favorites, some drivers lost touch. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) had taxed, David De La Cruz (Quick-Step Floors) had fallen. The Astana duo Fabio Aru and Miguel Angel Lopez could not follow in a descent. Only a few pilots were still together, including leader Chris Froome (Sky) with teammate Wout Poels. Wilco Kelderman from the German team Sunweb and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) have also been harmless to date.
.@Alberto counter putting on the greatest show I've seen in cycling # lv2017 I'm in tears – it's too much!! pic.twitter.com/CBFgc9xr41
— Captain Smith (@tweetthecaptain) September 9, 2017
Vamos Alberto! Contador celebrates a fantastic career end
In the pursuit, Franco Pellizotti (Bahrain-Merida) took over the pace for his captain Nibali. But he suddenly had trouble following himself. Meanwhile, Sky attacked: Poels and Froome broke away. Behind them everyone was fighting for themselves. Alberto Contador was clearly driving at the stop. The Sky duo kept getting closer. The lead of more than a minute suddenly collapsed. However, since Poels seemed stronger than Froome himself, the pace was slowed down. Contador could no longer be caught. What a conclusion for the Madrilenian! He wins the stage up the Alto de L'Angliru and tomorrow will be his final race in his hometown of Madrid.
The pistolero fires his last bullet: victory for @Alberto counter on the Angliru! # LV2017 pic.twitter.com/idJDXmAaJD
— Tour de France – DE (@letour_de) September 9, 2017
Zakarin grabs third place in the overall standings
The Sky duo finished behind Contador. Poels finished second ahead of Froome, who will win the Tour of Spain with it. Behind them, third place in the overall standings was at stake. Zakarin snatched that Kelderman from under his nose. Contador even worked his way up to fourth place, Keldermann is only fifth. But the big winners of the day are Contador and Froome. As the Spaniard crowns his career, the Briton finally wins the general classification after three second places at the Vuelta.
# LV2017 Froome, feliz como un niño. El Británico por fin consigue hacerse con la Vuelta a España! pic.twitter.com/FU0pMR2r3P
— CiclismoInternacinal (@CiclismoInter) September 9, 2017
Vuelta a España stage #20 daily classification
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Our Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | 3:31:33 |
| 2. | Wout poels | Netherlands | Sky | + 0: 17 |
| 3. | Chris Froome | Great Britain | Sky | st |
| 4. | Ilnur Zakarin | Russia | Katusha Alpecin | + 0: 35 |
| 5. | Franco Pellizotti | Italy | Bahrain-Merida | + 0: 51 |
| 6. | Vincenzo Nibali | Italy | Bahrain-Merida | st |
| 7. | Steven Kruijswijk | Netherlands | LottoNL Jumbo | st |
| 8. | Wilco Kelderman | Netherlands | Sunweb | + 1: 11 |
| 9. | Romain Bardet | France | Ag2r | + 1: 25 |
| 10. | Michael Woods | Canada | Cannondale Drapac | + 1: 36 |
Vuelta a España stage #20 general classification
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Our Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chris Froome | Great Britain | Sky | 79:23:37 |
| 2. | Vincenzo Nibali | Italy | Bahrain-Merida | + 2: 15 |
| 3. | Ilnur Zakarin | Russia | Katusha Alpecin | + 2: 51 |
| 4. | Alberto counter | Spain | Trek-Segafredo | + 3: 11 |
| 5. | wilco kelderman | Netherlands | Sunweb | + 3: 15 |
| 6. | Wout poels | Netherlands | Sky | + 6: 45 |
| 7. | Michael Woods | Canada | Cannondale Drapac | + 8: 16 |
| 8. | Miguel Angel Lopez | Colombia | Astana | + 8: 59 |
| 9. | Steven Kruijswijk | Netherlands | LottoNL Jumbo | + 11: 04 |
| 10. | Tejay Van Garderen | USA | BMC | + 15: 36 |