Tirreno Adriatico: Alberto Contador King of Two Seas

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Alberto Contador is the winner of the Italian classic stage race, Tirreno Adriatico whilst Movistar’s Adriano Malori put Endura on the podium as stage winner

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Tirreno Adriatico: Alberto Contador King of Two Seas

Alberto Contador is showing great early season form ahead of the classics and Spanish stage races, winning Tirreno Adriatico by over two minutes from last years Tour de France runner up, Nairo Quintana.

QuintanaPodium

Podium: Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador & Roman Kreuziger. Photo tirrenoadriatico.it

The final stage though belonged to Movistar in their Endura skinsuits with Adriano Malori winning and Alex Dowsett in 6th place.

Adriano Malori (Movistar) has already shown a few times this year how he is set to be one of the hitters in world time trialling and his victory in Tirreno Adriatico was just more confirmation he has the measure of the best in the world in this technical discipline.

He won the time trial with a time of 10’13”, also setting the fastest intermediate time. Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) was 2nd fastest, 6″ down, and Bradley Wiggins (Sky ProCycling) was 3rd fastest, 11″ down.

His team Movistar however showed their surprise by saying on their website, “not even the most optimistic predictions could expect such an excellent result from Movistar Team in the final time trial of the 2014 Tirreno-Adriatico”.

Adriano Malori

Adriano Malori, stage winner. Photo: http://movistarteam.com/

The time trial was a completely flat, 9km race in San Benedetto del Tronto and Adriano Malori flew over the course at 54kph average. Earlier in the day, Alex Dowsett had led the standings until Dumoulin came along and bettered Dowsett’s time which was eventually good enough for sixth. The Essex rider later explained “Happy with today’s TT, turned a corner lately and things are improving”.

It was Malori’s second victory of the season and his 11th as pro cyclist. “It’s the most beautiful victory in my entire life. Looking at the classification, it almost feels like a dream to win in front of the best specialists in the world”.

“I can’t still believe myself. It’s a reward for the efforts made for so many years – I just hope to follow this path from now on. When I crossed the finish and saw the time, I compared it to other years and saw it was really good, but I didn’t think I could win until Tony Martin came through the line”.

“Now I’ll be focusing on Milano-Sanremo and the first classics in Belgium before getting ready for the Giro. There, I hope to perform well in the Barolo TT, though the course will be pretty hard. I hope my condition will be better than it is right now”.

“The Adriatic coast always brought me good luck, with my victories as an amateur, the maglia rosa in the Giro two years ago… I had dreamt of winning this TT for the last four years, had already taken 2nd last season and 3rd on two more occasions. I dedicate this victory to everyone who really believed in me up to this point, my girlfriend, my friends and my family.”

The rider he beat to the top step was birthday boy Fabian Cancellara who is aiming for a lucrative classics seasons. Fabian Cancellera was the closest finisher to the 26-year-old Italian stopping the clock in 10:19, six seconds slower.

“I did not have a good feeling at the start,” Cancellara explained soon after he had completed his effort. “I could not push the gears. Halfway through, I had a better feeling of pushing gears and going really, really fast.”

“I am actually happy how I finished since I did not do specific training as my focus is on something else. Malori put in a great ride and it shows that the competition in all disciplines is growing. For me it is always good to do a time trial like this.”

“I can definitely have a good glass of wine tonight, with a pizza!”

Wiggins on the way back?
The reigning Olympic champion for the TT, Bradley Wiggins, set a time of 10 minutes and 24 seconds on the coast in San Benedetto del Tronto to put himself firmly in the mix as the world’s best time trial contenders compared early-season form.

Wiggins’s time was enough to see off world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) as well as the race’s general classification contenders to claim the final place on the day’s podium.

AlbertoContadorKingofTwoSeas

Photo tirrenoadriatico.it

Contador Carries on Winning
Whilst the stage was a success for Movistar, it was Alberto Contador who took to the top step for a victory that will sound a warning to his Tour de France rivals. Contador was head and shoulders above his rivals, a fact his two minute plus winning margin bears witness too.

“Right now I’m thinking about next week and the Tour of Catalonia,” Contador said afterwards. “Then I’ll think about the Tour and Vuelta.”

Whilst he didn’t set the world on fire in the time trial, those battling for the minor placings had plenty to race for. Movistar’s Nairo Quintana went into the race defending his second place against Kreuziger (TCS) and Péraud (ALM).

The Colombian not only held off the challenge of two theoretically better specialists, but clocked a time two seconds faster than the Czech and the Frenchman -even quicker than Alberto Contador (TCS).

“I’m pretty happy today” says Quintana. “Not only for keeping the podium, but because it was a test for me and it turned out well. The Tour was not favourable for my strengths but I learned to defend myself”.

“ We are working hard and all those improvements are making a difference. The preparation for the Giro goes well and that’s what matters. Also, I have known more about how to run in Italy, the roads, the organization … this will be good in the face of what’s coming.”

“Now I’ll be in the Volta a Catalunya, where I’ll have more race fitness. It will be a nice race that will see many of the best. For me, I prefer it because I always get a more accurate idea of the level I am at”.

STAGE 7
1 MALORI Adriano Movistar Team 10:13
2 CANCELLARA Fabian Trek Factory Racing 00:06
3 WIGGINS Bradley Team Sky 00:11
4 MARTIN Tony Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 00:15
5 DUMOULIN Tom Team Giant-Shimano 00:19
6 DOWSETT Alex Movistar Team 00:20
7 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 00:22
8 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC Racing Team 00:23
9 DEVOLDER Stijn Trek Factory Racing 00:24
10 DURBRIDGE Luke Orica GreenEDGE 00:26
11 BENNATI Daniele Tinkoff-Saxo 00:28
12 DéMARE Arnaud FDJ.fr 00:31
13 AMADOR Andrey Movistar Team
14 BOARO Manuele Tinkoff-Saxo 00:32
15 HEPBURN Michael Orica GreenEDGE 00:33
16 ULISSI Diego Lampre – Merida 00:34
17 TJALLINGII Maarten Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 00:37
18 KOREN Kristjan Cannondale
19 LUDVIGSSON Tobias Team Giant-Shimano 00:38
20 QUINTANA Nairo Movistar Team

22 SAGAN Peter Cannondale 00:39
23 IMPEY Daryl Orica GreenEDGE
26 KREUZIGER Roman Tinkoff-Saxo
29 CONTADOR Alberto Tinkoff-Saxo 00.41
43 URAN Rigoberto Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 00:46
56 CLARKE Simon Orica GreenEDGE 00.50
57 MILLAR David Garmin Sharp 00:51
68 KITTEL Marcel Team Giant-Shimano 00.53
73 ROCHE Nicolas Tinkoff-Saxo 00:56
86 GILBERT Philippe BMC Racing Team 00:58
98 BAUER Jack Garmin Sharp 01:05
116 BENNETT Sam Team NetApp – Endura 01:13
118 MARTIN Daniel Garmin Sharp 01:14
132 KENNAUGH Peter Team Sky 01:19
136 DEMPSTER Zakkari Team NetApp – Endura 1.22
141 CAVENDISH Mark Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 01:25

DNS EVANS Cadel BMC Racing Team
DNS GREIPEL André Lotto Belisol
DNS VOSS Paul Team NetApp – Endura
DNS STANNARD Ian Team Sky

OVERALL
1 CONTADOR Alberto Tinkoff-Saxo 25:28:45
2 QUINTANA Nairo Movistar Team 02:05
3 KREUZIGER Roman Tinkoff-Saxo 02:14
4 PERAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R La Mondiale 02:39
5 ARREDONDO MORENO Julián David Trek Factory Racing 02:54
6 POZZOVIVO Domenico AG2R La Mondiale 03:04
7 KISERLOVSKI Robert Trek Factory Racing 03:09
8 MORENO Daniel Team Katusha 03:16
9 SCARPONI Michele Astana Pro Team
10 NIEVE Mikel Team Sky 03:19
11 ULISSI Diego Lampre – Merida 03:32
12 NOCENTINI Rinaldo AG2R La Mondiale 03:37
13 CARUSO Giampaolo Team Katusha 03:47
14 GENIEZ Alexandre FDJ.fr 04:10
15 HUZARSKI Bartosz Team NetApp – Endura 04:18
16 HERMANS Ben BMC Racing Team 05:24
17 TALANSKY Andrew Garmin Sharp 05:36
18 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 05:38
19 NERZ Dominik BMC Racing Team 06:34
20 SANTAROMITA Ivan Orica GreenEDGE 06:44

24 BASSO Ivan Cannondale 06:58
27 CUNEGO Damiano Lampre – Merida 07:45
29 SAGAN Peter Cannondale 11:11
31 URAN Rigoberto Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 13:37
36 GILBERT Philippe BMC Racing Team 19:44
40 ROCHE Nicolas Tinkoff-Saxo 20:47
51 CANCELLARA Fabian Trek Factory Racing 26:04
52 CLARKE Simon Orica GreenEDGE 28:37
53 WIGGINS Bradley Team Sky 28:49
54 IMPEY Daryl Orica GreenEDGE 28:53
55 MARTIN Daniel Garmin Sharp
58 BAUER Jack Garmin Sharp 30:04
75 MARTIN Tony Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 36:34
83 MILLAR David Garmin Sharp 42:10
107 KENNAUGH Peter Team Sky 55:29
121 CIOLEK Gerald MTN – Qhubeka 59:30
127 CAVENDISH Mark Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 1:02:13
133 DEMPSTER Zakkari Team NetApp – Endura 1:03:42
137 BENNETT Sam Team NetApp – Endura 1:04:58
151 DOWSETT Alex Movistar Team 1:13:41

 

 

 

 

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