Contador conquers the Angliru as Froome secures the Tour-Vuelta double
All of Spain celebrates Alberto Contador's final race atop the Alto de l'Angliru as Chris Froome achieves an impossible Tour-Vuelta double
The 20th stage of the Vuelta a España is bound to be an amazing spectacle and it did not disappoint. It was a day celebration for the ten of thousands of Spanish fans who spent hours if not day lining the route. On the Angliru is three or four people deep in some places and the fans did their best to respect the riders.
The start was a nervous affair, wet, damp and cold the peloton braced themselves for the short, sharp, shocker of a stage.
From the gun there were numerous attacks that didn't stick until finally a breakaway of 18 riders wasestablished including; Lluis Mas (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Enric Mas (Quick Step), Simon Yates (Orica-Scott), Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto-Soudal), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ). They has a small gap of 18 seconds.
M. Haller from Katusha tried to bridge across to the break in no mans land. Meanwhile in the peloton Trek-Segafredo and Team Sky were on the front of the peloton for Contador and Froome.
55 kms to go and the breakaway's lead was around 1 minute, about 8 kms before the Alto de Cobertoria reared up, a 8.1 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 8.6% with some 18% after the first 3 kms.
Meanwhile, it was so windy at the top of the Angliru, most of the finish has been flattened.
45 kms to go the breakaway crested the Alto de Cobertoria, straight after the descent they climbed the steep Alto de Cordal, 5.7 kilometre climb averaging 8.6%, while the steepest gradient of 12% comes 1 kilometre before the top and then onto the finale.
It was here the from the breakaway, Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) set a hard pace , Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Marc Soler (Movistar), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal), Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) followed.
The rain started falling hard and Bahrain-Merida set the pace in the bunch before the peloton crested the Alto de Cobertoria. The descent off was over 9 kms and steep. Vincenzo Nibali came ot the front being one of the best descender, Gianni Moscon, Froome's workhorse brought him up as well as the other favorites.
As prediected Bahrain-Merida and Nibali got a small gap, however the descent was trecherous.
The breakway hit the steep 1st category Alto de Cordal, 5.7 kilometre climb averaging 8.6%, while the steepest gradient of 12% came 1 kilometre before the top before the finale, the Alto de l'Angliru.
In the main peloton Trek-Segafredo's Pantano pushed up the pace and the favorites responded, which reduced the size of the red jersey group drmatically, at one stage Aru, Zakarin, de la Cruz and Lopez were dropped. De la Cruz and Zakarin who were caught at the back, bridged back up to the red jersey group.
Pantano's pace was furious, It was 9 kms downhill and before the race hit the slopes of the feared Alto de l'Agliru. There were several crashes, Froome had a wobble, Soller in the break, Nibali and del Cruz in the red jersey group all sliding off but getting back on without any major injuries.
In the breakaway Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) leap out and opened up a lead of 1m 25 secs. the red jersey group was down to around 25 riders and SunWeb push on for Kelderman who had a slim podium place of 12 seconds over Zakarin.
Due to a breakdown in communications with the weather, Contador had pushed on with teammate Pantano, and Spanish riders, Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), Marc Soler (Movistar) from the breakaway. They caught Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal) and Yates from the breakaway with 7.5km to go.
One by one they struggled, Patano who buried himself pulled over totally blown, Yates, Bardet, Marczynski and finally Enric Mas cracked.
Contador looked back down the mountain a lonely figure, turned round and pushed on with 5.3 kms to and a 44 secs lead. He never looked back and it was clear the stage was his, aat one point being knocked sideways by a fan, he blitzed the upper 25% slopes under a barrage of screen, horns, police, flags and even a man dressed as a dinosaur, it was incredible for the Spanish fans.
3.5 kms to go, for Contador has a minute lead, on course to take this victory on his final race. Behind Zakarin dropped Kelderman in the final 1.5 kms, Kelderman gave it his all but was running on empty and put up a incredible fight to hang onto 3rd place, but it just slipped out of his grasp as Zakarin cracked him a pushed on to take the 12 seconds back to secure 3rd place.
In front Froome finished behind Wout Poels, with Zakarin, Nibali, naibali right hand man Pellizotti and Kruijswijk not far behind.
Jubilant celebrations for both Trek-Segafredo, Spain, Froome and Team Sky.
Contador smiling and Froome mostly in shock, that he had secured a incredible Tour-Vuelta double.
Contador says farewell with win on Angliru
It's the stuff of legends.
In the ultimate mountain stage of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana, with rain making for a treacherous race, Alberto Contador, as he has done hundreds of times in his career, attacked.
After following teammate Jarlinson Pantano's acceleration on the slick and dangerous descent ahead of the 12-kilometer climb that ended stage 20, Contador set off at the bottom and by the top of the iconic ascent had added one final, glorious stamp to his amazing passport of palmarès.
Contador's celebration will be his last, and certainly, it will be one of his most meaningful. It has been a roller coaster ride in his final season, never achieving what he hoped for, but only legends can rise to the occasion in the last opportunity, and Contador did just that with a fantastic and historic win atop the Angliru.
Contador said: "The truth is it has been a very, very special day. I think it’s very difficult to say good bye in a better way than this, in this place, in this event. In the end, it's a full stop at the end of a career in which I have done everything I wanted. I think it's been a beautiful Vuelta even though I am not on the podium. But perhaps if I had been in contention for the overall podium I would have ridden in a different way, more conservative, and instead I have ridden the race I have ridden - I look at the photos, and almost every day there are pictures of me alone because I have been on the attack."
Contador fell short of the final podium by 20 seconds, but it mattered little – he finished his career on top, and he did it in the only way he knows how. It was a thrilling show of panache as he fought his way up the Angliru in front of thousands of home country fans, and when he pointed his famous gesture for the final time as he crossed the line, it gave goosebumps to even the most stoic.
"I knew it was going to be a very special day, the road full of people and everyone watching the stage, and I set the goal for myself of winning on the Angliru," continued Contador. "This morning I wanted to win, and when I crossed the line, I thought to myself: goal completed."
"In the end, we couldn't take the podium, but this is not what's important," added Contador. "What's important is to take the victory of the stage and finish with this result for the rest of my life."
All this was made possible by the warriors surrounding Contador. His teammates pulled in the first half of the short 117.5-kilometer stage to keep an 18-man breakaway in check, keeping them at roughly one minute.
When the climbing started his trusted lieutenant, Pantano, went to work. Pantano not only paced Contador up the ascents but also led him safely down the other side, crucial on the final slick descent where numerous crashes occurred. It was here that the pair created a gap on the rivals, which opened the door for his last attack.
"I spoke with teammates ahead yesterday and said that tomorrow could be one day for the history. They gave 100% to control the first part of the race. All the riders helped me, and especially Pantano for the descent of the Cordal. We started the Angliru with some seconds to the rivals, and then I knew it was my time and I needed to give the maximum until the top and try to win," explained Contador.
"Today's attack was different because it was an attack on the descent. It's unusual in the history of cycling for this on a dangerous descent, but Jarlinson attacked, and I went with him," he added.
The gap was all they needed. Pantano threw everything he had left into the first part of the Angliru, emptying himself to a standstill, and Contador finished his work, paying back his team with a victory, and giving the fans a farewell to remember.
"I have been able to enjoy the affection of all the people who say thank you to me. It's been a remarkable month, unforgettable," ended Contador. "I think in the future it'll be remembered that in my last day of competition, I finished it with a win."
2017 Vuelta a Espana Stage 20 Top Ten
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 3:31:33
2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:17
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:35
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:51
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:11
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:25
10 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:36
2017 Vuelta a Espana GC after Stage 20
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 79:23:37
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:15
3 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:51
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:11
5 Wilco Kelderman 0:03:15
6 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:06:45
7 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 0:07:56
8 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:08:59
9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:11:04
10 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:15:36