Contador wins Basque Tour
Astana's Alberto Contador won the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday, after clinching the sixth and final stage, a 24km time trial around the town of Zalla. It was the second straight Tour of the Basque Country title win for the defending Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España champion. "It's incredible how I continue to progress in my time trial work," said Contador, who took part in the event as part of his preparations for the Tour de France.
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Astana’s Alberto Contador won the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday, after clinching the sixth and final stage, a 24km time trial around the town of Zalla.
It was the second straight Tour of the Basque Country title win for the defending Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España champion.
“It’s incredible how I continue to progress in my time trial work,” said Contador, who took part in the event as part of his preparations for the Tour de France.
“Two, three years ago this would have been impossible. I am a typical climber, in theory we are not so strong in time trial work. This gives me confidence for the next goal, the Tour de France,” he added.
Contador won the testing stage in 31 minutes 59 seconds with Team Katusha’s Toni Colom in second place, 22 seconds behind.
Fellow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez finished third, 45 seconds adrift.
Contador won the 2007 Tour de France but was unable to defend his title after switching to Astana as the team was prevented from racing last year due to alleged doping offenses by former members of the team.
Results
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana, 24km in 31:59 (45kph)
2. Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Katusha, at 0:22
3. Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 0:45
4. Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad, at 1:09
5. Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 1:13
6. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Columbia-Highroad, at 1:18
7. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Slipstream, at 1:22
8. Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto, at 1:25
9. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank, at 1:25
10. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 1:26
11. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas, at 1:36
12. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas, at 1:41
13. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana, at 1:43
14. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Columbia-Highroad, at 1:44
15. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step, at 1:46
16. Christian Knees (Ger) Milram, at 1:49
17. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad, at 1:49
18. Gustav Larsson (Swe) Saxo Bank, at 1:51
19. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam, at 1:56
20. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Columbia-Highroad, at 2:02
21. Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam, at 2:11
22. Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 2:13
23. David López García (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 2:28
24. Peter Velits (Svk) Milram, at 2:31
25. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto, at 2:33
26. Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
27. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Saxo Bank, at 2:46
28. Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 2:47
29. Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank
30. Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank, at 2:50
31. Craig Lewis (USA) Columbia-Highroad, at 2:50
32. Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 2:50
33. Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank, at 2:54
34. José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis-AMPO, at 2:54
35. Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 3:00
36. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step, at 3:07
37. Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 3:09
38. Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, at 3:14
39. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 3:17
40. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Milram, at 3:22
41. David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 3:23
42. Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank, at 3:23
43. Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 3:25
44. Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank, at 3:26
45. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 3:26
46. Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas, at 3:27
47. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas, at 3:29
48. Iker Camaño Ortuzar (Spa) Fuji-Servetto, at 3:34
49. Francis De Greef (Bel) Silence-Lotto, at 3:35
50. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream, at 3:36
51. Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana, at 3:42
52. Oscar Pujol Muñoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam, at 3:42
53. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Saxo Bank, at 3:49
54. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, at 3:52
55. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 3:53
56. Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Liquigas, at 3:56
57. José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 4:03
58. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 4:08
59. Óscar Freire Gómez (Spa) Rabobank, at 4:08
60. David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto, at 4:14
61. Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step, at 4:17
62. Mevel Christophe Le (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 4:25
63. Joan Horrach (Spa) Katusha, at 4:26
64. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 4:33
65. David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, at 4:35
66. José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Astana, at 4:51
67. Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 4:52
68. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 4:52
69. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Katusha, at 4:58
70. Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, at 4:58
71. Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Katusha, at 5:01
72. Javier Echarri Marín (Spa) Contentpolis-AMPO, at 5:17
73. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step, at 5:24
74. Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 5:33
75. Rémy Di Gregorio, at (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 5:37
76. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas, at 6:08
77. Jesús Hernández (Spa) Astana, at 6:17
78. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 6:21
79. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step, at 6:23
80. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Katusha, at 6:25
81. Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 6:30
82. Ben Swift (GB) Katusha, at 6:57
Final Overall Standings
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana, 20:48:302. Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Katusha, at 0:30
3. Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 0:53
4. Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto, at 1:33
5. Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 1:48
6. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 1:53
7. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank, at 1:57
8. Michael Rogers (Aus) Columbia-Highroad, at 2:20
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas, at 2:30
10. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas, at 2:35
11. Christian Knees (Ger) Milram, at 3:00
12. Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 3:07
13. David López García (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 3:39
14. Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 4:01
15. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto, at 4:07
16. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step, at 4:18
17. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Saxo Bank, at 4:22
18. Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, at 5:07
19. Andrea Noe (Ita) Liquigas, at 5:18
20. Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
21. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:19
22. Gustav Larsson (Swe) Saxo Bank, at 5:49
23. David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 6:32
24. Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam, at 6:38
25. Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 7:15
26. Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Columbia-Highroad, at 7:45
27. Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank, at 7:55
28. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step, at 8:14
29. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 8:58
30. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Saxo Bank, at 9:26
31. Rémy Di Gregorio, at (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 10:04
32. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Columbia-Highroad, at 10:49
33. Francis De Greef (Bel) Silence-Lotto, at 10:58
34. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Katusha, at 11:16
35. David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, at 11:17
36. José Herrada López (Spa) Contentpolis-AMPO, at 12:23
37. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 13:40
38. Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank, at 13:44
39. David De La Fuente (Spa) Fuji-Servetto, at 14:32
40. Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana, at 14:44
41. Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank, at 15:03
42. Alberto Losada (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne, at 15:21
43. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 16:21
44. Peter Velits (Svk) Milram, at 16:49
45. Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 16:55
46. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Cervélo TestTeam, at 17:32
47. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Slipstream, at 18:53
48. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Columbia-Highroad, at 18:58
49. Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank, at 20:28
50. Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank, at 20:57
51. Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Katusha, at 21:10
52. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Milram, at 21:36
53. Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana, at 21:41
54. Marco Pinotti (Ita) Columbia-Highroad, at 21:54
55. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Liquigas, at 23:06
56. Jesús Hernández (Spa) Astana, at 24:05
57. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream, at 24:50
58. Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Katusha, at 25:09
59. Óscar Freire Gómez (Spa) Rabobank, at 25:34
60. Yury Trofimov (Rus) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 26:19
61. Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, at 26:58
62. Iker Camaño Ortuzar (Spa) Fuji-Servetto, at 28:16
63. Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-NGC, at 30:00
64. Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Liquigas, at 30:54
65. Javier Echarri Marín (Spa) Contentpolis-AMPO, at 31:25
66. Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, at 33:10
67. Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 33:39
68. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas, at 34:07
69. Craig Lewis (USA) Columbia-Highroad, at 34:21
70. Mevel Christophe Le (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 34:25
71. Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux, at 34:26
72. Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step, at 34:32
73. José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 35:09
74. Ben Swift (GB) Katusha, at 35:37
75. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step, at 35:52
76. Iñaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 36:02
77. Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step, at 37:45
78. Joan Horrach (Spa) Katusha, at 40:02
79. Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 41:09
80. José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Astana, at 41:58
81. Oscar Pujol Muñoz (Spa) Cervélo TestTeam, at 51:57
82. Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 56:05