Sitting at the top steps of the Trek-Segafredo team bus just minutes after losing the Ruta del Sol lead to Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by a scant second, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) recognised that even with such a narrow margin his chances of winning the race overall are now more than slim. Contador has been the most dynamic of all the GC racers in this year´s Ruta: his four attacks on stage one on the Alto de Monachil climb split the field apart, and his punchy charge away on stage two in Mancha Real climb netted him the lead. On stage 3, in the time trial, he went from the gun again, moving out the saddle on the opening climb. Yet recently Contador´s track record has its fair share of narrow defeats, too - in the 2015 Ruta del Sol, he was second, just two seconds down on Chris Froome (Team Sky). In last year´s Paris-Nice, he lost by four seconds to Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) then missed out on the Volta a Catalunya by seven seconds to Nairo Quintana (Movistar).ADVERTISEMENT And this time round, as he crossed the line just six seconds down on Valverde, it looks as if - with two flattish stages remaining - Contador faces an even narrower defeat overall, as the Movistar rider took over the lead again by just one second. Although Sunday´s stage is a lumpier one, the opportunities to recoup those losses are now all but non-existent and the most probable outcome is that come Sunday, Valverde will have taken his fifth Ruta del Sol win. `I didn´t feel so bad, I was firing strongly but we´ve just started the season and I´m maybe lacking that last bit of sparkle you need to get the win,` Contador, third on the stage said. `It all came down to a few seconds difference, they ended up being in Alejandro´s favour, not mine, and I have to congratulate him.` - Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) February 17, 2017
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
|
