Alberto Contador wins Giro d'Italia overall

After a quiet start to the day, Iljo Keisse (Etixx-QuickStep) won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in dramatic style as the breakaway held off the sprinters’ teams. Keisse beat Orica-GreenEdge’s Luke Durbridge in a two-man sprint to the line, with Roger Kluge (IAM Cycling) taking third from the bunch behind.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) sealed his overall victory at the Giro as he rode home inside the bunch. The Spaniard held up three fingers to indicate three Giro d’Italia titles, unable to let go of the 2011 victory that was taken from him following a positive test for Clenbuterol. Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa ensured that there were two Astana riders on the podium, as the Kazakh team wrapped up the team classification.

It was supposed to be a straight-forward day for the sprinters teams, with a small break going out in the final circuit before being reeled in on the last lap. That didn’t happen though as Keisse and Durbridge broke free after the first of seven passages across the finish line. There was little reaction behind and the pair built a small, but crucial, gap of 40 seconds.

The sprinters’ teams rallied behind to keep the gap down but several punctures threw a spanner in the works, as Team Sky and Giant-Alpecin were both hit. Several teams tried to pick up the pace setting but there appeared to be some discord and the indecision allowed the duo out front some room to breathe.

With a shot at stage victory almost certain, Keisse and Durbridge began playing cat and mouse. Keisse stuck himself into the wheel of the Australian, refusing to come out until they hit the final 200 metres.

Durbridge was forced to launch his sprint first but Keisse used his six-day track skills to overhaul Durbridge and take his first solo victory at the Giro d’Italia.

“This is my best, best victory ever. I’m really happy,” Keisse said after the finish.

“I’m a track rider and I know I can do well in short crits like this with fast corners. I was also lucky to have the perfect mate in the break with Luke Durbridge. On the last lap I knew I was riding for the win, I just had to come to sprint and take it.”

How it happened

The party atmosphere was in full flow at the start line in Turin, with Oleg Tinkov and his new pink hair almost stealing the limelight from his rider Alberto Contador. The peloton was in no rush to get to Milan as the Tinkoff-Saxo riders shared some Prosecco while Tinkov proceeded to spray it out the window of the team car.

The first real bit of action didn’t happen until the peloton neared the first intermediate sprint in Novara, after 86 kilometres of racing. BMC appeared to be moving up to the front of the bunch to ready themselves, but they wanted to make sure there was no contest and three of their riders went clear of the bunch – including their red jersey hopeful Philippe Gilbert. Max Richeze (Lampre-Merida) was the only rider quick enough to hold onto them.

The four leaders had a minute by the time they hit the intermediate sprint, with Gilbert taking the full compliment. Job done, they sat up and waited for the bunch to come back to them. Meanwhile, Patrick Gretsch and Axel Domont (both AG2R-La Mondiale) tried to bridge the gap but made little headway. With the escapees caught, it was business as usual and the peloton rolled towards Milan at a relatively easy pace.

It wasn’t until the peloton had crossed the line for the first time that the first concerted attack happened. Keisse and Durbridge made use of the narrow roads to get away from the peloton, escaping the punctures that were causing havoc behind.

The pair never got more than a minute but it proved to be enough as they faced off against each other for the victory. Keisse played it perfectly to finish just ahead of Durbridge.

Giacomo Nizzolo finished safely inside the top 10 to secure victory in the points competition.

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