Contador wins Milano-Torino
Ulissi, Kessiakoff complete podium at Italy's oldest Classic
Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) won the Milan-Turin race thanks to a powerful acceleration one kilometre from the finish at the summit of the Superga climb overlooking Turin.
The oldest race on the Italian race calendar finished atop the Superga after a first passage and a short final circuit. Contador was unstoppable on the final part of the climb, attacking and winning alone. Italy’s Diego Ulissi (Lampre-ISD) finished second, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team) was third, with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha Team) fourth.
Saxo Bank worked hard for Contador all race, chasing down the early break by Federico Rocchetti (Utensilnord Named) and Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and then pulling back a six-rider move after the first climb of the Superga sparked by Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale).
It was Contador's first one-day race victory since he turned professional in 2002. All his other victories have come in stage races.
"This is a great win. My teammates believed I could do it from the start of the race and so I couldn't mess it up. After all the work they did for me at the Vuelta, I still feel indebted to them and wanted to pay them back with another win," Contador said.
“This morning, when I woke up, weighed 2.4kg more than at the Vuelta, I knew there were 190 kilometres of racing and that I hadn't trained yesterday and had only done 40km the day before. But the point was to get to the finish line with some strength in my legs.
“I had to make a full-on effort. Joaquim [Rodriguez] had taken a few metres and I had to work to catch him. I took a few breaths on his wheel and then tried to go. I'm very, very happy to win, especially in Italy."
Contador dedicated his victory to Victor Cabedo –the young Basque rider who was recently killed in an accident while out training.
Ulissi was disappointed that he was unable to go with Contador in the final kilometre of the race but his ride boosted his confidence for Saturday's Il Lombardia.
"I'm sorry I didn’t manage to finish off a good race with the win," he said in a press release from his Lampre-ISD team.
" I raced well, dosing my energy and reading the race carefully. I didn’t have a great moment on the first climb of the Superga but I felt better on the final climb. I followed Kessiakoff and kept him within distance and then got on Rodriguez's wheel. But when Contador went it was game over even though I tried to close the gap. Still, at least I'm confident I'll be in the action at Il Lombardia."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | 4:32:12 |
2 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - ISD | 0:00:15 |
3 | Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana | 0:00:24 |
4 | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team | 0:00:36 |
5 | Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Acqua & Sapone | |
6 | Fabio Taborre (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | 0:00:43 |
7 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | 0:00:45 |
8 | Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | |
9 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
10 | Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | 0:00:53 |
11 | Christopher Horner (USA) Radioshack-Nissan | |
12 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp | |
13 | Stefano Locatelli (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
14 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team | |
15 | Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
16 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:06 |
17 | Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | 0:01:11 |
18 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:16 |
19 | Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | 0:01:18 |
20 | Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre - ISD | 0:01:20 |
21 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
22 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
23 | Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp | |
24 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quickstep | |
25 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
26 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
27 | Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
28 | Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Utensilnord Named | |
29 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
30 | Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Utensilnord Named | |
31 | Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
32 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan | |
33 | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan | |
34 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
35 | George Bennett (NZl) Radioshack-Nissan | |
36 | Alessandro Proni (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
37 | Luca Dodi (Ita) Team Idea | |
38 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | |
39 | Angelo Pagani (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
40 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin-Sharp | |
41 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
42 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat | |
43 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
44 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
45 | Patxi Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Utensilnord Named | |
46 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Pro Team Astana | |
47 | Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
48 | Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Col) Androni Giocattoli | |
49 | Francesco Failli (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
50 | Alfredo Balloni (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
51 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre - ISD | |
52 | Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ-Big Mat | |
53 | Leonardo Giordani (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
54 | Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
55 | Roberto Giacobazzi (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox | |
56 | Dalivier Ospina Navarro (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | |
57 | Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre - ISD | |
58 | Ben Hermans (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan | |
59 | Luca Barla (Ita) Team Idea | |
60 | Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | |
61 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quickstep | |
62 | Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha Team | |
63 | Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team | |
64 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team | |
65 | Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team | |
66 | Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | |
67 | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | |
68 | Carlos José Ochoa (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | |
69 | Fabio Piscopiello (Ita) Utensilnord Named | |
70 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quickstep | |
71 | Michael Rodriguez Galindo (Col) Colombia - Coldeportes | |
72 | Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | |
73 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Pro Team Astana | |
74 | Cristian Cominelli (Ita) Team Idea | |
75 | Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | |
76 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
77 | Sergio Lagana (Ita) Utensilnord Named | |
78 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Argos - Shimano | |
79 | Massimo Codol (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
80 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat | |
81 | Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
82 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat | |
83 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat | |
84 | Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quickstep | |
85 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Argos - Shimano | |
86 | Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Argos - Shimano | |
87 | Aristide Ratti (Ita) Team Idea | |
88 | Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
89 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
90 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale | |
91 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Argos - Shimano | |
92 | Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat | |
93 | Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos - Shimano | |
94 | Simone Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone | |
95 | Stiven Fanelli (Ita) Utensilnord Named |
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