Tour de France champion Alberto Contador joined some of the biggest names in cycling when he won in l’Alpe d’Huez to take the sixth stage of the Criterium Du Dauphine on Saturday.
The Spaniard had not previously conquered the famous mountain but set the record straight in style at the end of a 151.5km ride.
“It’s very moving to win in L’Alpe d’Huez. When you have a chance to win a stage on top of a mountain everybody remembers, you don’t take it lightly,” Contador said.
PHOTO: AFP
Yet Contador has probably lost the race in spite of his victory at the end of 21 of the most infamous turns in the sport for he was unable to drop overall leader Janez Brajkovic.
Overall, Brajkovic retained his one minute and 41 seconds lead over Contador, who dislodged American Tejay Van Garderen from second place.
“I’m probably going to finish second in this Dauphine but with the prologue and this victory, it’s mission accomplished,” Contador said.
“I now know where I stand and I’m pleased with the team, especially as it is not entirely the one that’s going to be on the Tour [de France],” he said.
Contador attacked at least half a dozen times on the 13 km of the final climb to challenge the young Slovenian but Brajkovic, who has probably earned a place in Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team for next month’s Tour, never faltered.
A strong headwind made it even more difficult than usual to break in the finale and Contador eventually settled for the stage victory.
The two finished together, Contador surging in the final stretch to earn his second stage victory after last Sunday’s prologue.
“Brajkovic was very strong today. It’s very hard to make a difference on the Dauphine because it’s so windy,” he said.
Poland’s Sylvester Szmyd, who also tried unsuccessfully in the ascent to topple the yellow jersey holder, was third, a few seconds behind.
tour of switzerland
AFP, LUGANO, Switzerland
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team won the Tour of Switzerland opening time-trial over 7.6km through the streets of Lugano on Saturday.
The defending champion finished one second ahead of Czech Roman Kreuziger with Germany’s Tony Martin and Slovakia’s Peter Sagan three seconds off the pace.
Former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong of the US finished nearly 30 seconds behind the winner.
Cancellara, a triple world champion in 2006, 2007 and last year and reigning Olympic time-trial champion, won the prologue last year and went on to claim the overall race victory.
Earlier this month, Cancellara had to deny suggestions that he had used a motorized bicycle to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix classics. He produced a stunning second half to his time trial as he turned a six second deficit into a one second lead.
“I think I did everything right,” he said. “The margin is not important. What is important is to wear the leader’s jersey.”
Armstrong, racing in what is expected to be his last race prior to the Tour de France, did not take any chances on the wet roads.
The 38-year-old was already 12 seconds off the pace midway through and slipped even further back in the second half, finishing in 44th position.
A spokesman for his RadioShack team said Armstrong “did not want to take any risks on the downhill, but overall he felt good.”
Armstrong was in a mood to joke on Twitter when he referred to the recent inquiry into Cancellara’s bike.
“[Cancellara has] two motors on his bike, the one in his left leg and the one in his right leg,” Armstrong said.
The second stage (167km) takes the peleton from Ascona to Sierra.
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