Team Astana's Contador Increases Overall Giro d'Italia Lead
Team Astana's Alberto Contador successfully defended his pink jersey (Maglia Rosa) in the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia, an individual mountain time trial to Plan de Corones (Kronplatz) over 12.9 kilometers. With today's win the pink jersey is now more secure on his shoulders. Yesterday Contador claimed the Maglia Rosa on the Marmolada climb. In the overall classification he now leads with 41 seconds to Riccardo Riccó, and 1:21 to Gilberto Simoni.
Team Astana's Alberto Contador successfully defended his pink jersey (Maglia Rosa) in the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia, an individual mountain time trial to Plan de Corones (Kronplatz) over 12.9 kilometers. With today's win the pink jersey is now more secure on his shoulders. Yesterday Contador claimed the Maglia Rosa on the Marmolada climb. In the overall classification he now leads with 41 seconds to Riccardo Riccó, and 1:21 to Gilberto Simoni.
The terrible climb to Plan de Corones included 5.3 kilometers of sterrato – bad gravel roads touching 24 percent gradients. "It was a new experience for me," commented Alberto Contador. "I had to use a 34x30 gear. This was necessary to prevent slipping away on some parts where you could not come out of the saddle. This morning I went to check out the climb very early. Honestly, I liked what I saw. This was something for a real climber like me. After my performance of yesterday, I was more confident before the start of the race than I had been at the start of Sunday's stage. Plus today I did not have any technical problem like I did yesterday when I had to do the Marmolada climb with a defective wheel."
Alberto Contador continues to surprise the cycling world. "I am surprised as well," says Contador and continues "I am happy that I have reached this level with the poor preparation I had. Fortunately, the weather is not too good here. That helps me."
After tomorrow's rest day there are still a few difficult stages. "The Giro is not over yet. I am glad that riders like Di Luca, Bruseghin and Menchov lost time, but I have to stay awake for Simoni and Riccó. In theory the final time trial suits me better than them, but some other stages still can put me in difficulties. Especially the stage with the Mortirolo can be dangerous. Fortunately, I have a strong team. I strongly believe that they all will work for the same goal: bringing that pink jersey to Milano."
For the Astana team, it is once again a super week. Besides the great performances in the Giro d'Italia, the team increased its lead in the ProTour team classification.
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