Ben Hermans (BMC) (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Race leader Michal Kwiatkowski suffered on the mountainous fifth stage(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) rolled back the years, putting in hugely dominant ride to win stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico atop the Muro di Guardiagrele. The Spaniard attacked on the penultimate climb of the stage, blowing the race wide open and securing a healthy overall lead by the finish.
Overnight leader Michal Kwiatkowski saw his 16 second lead over Contador wiped out and was dropped out of the top ten by the time he crawled over the line. Nairo Quintana now sits in second place overall, 2:08 down on Contador, with Roman Kreuziger third at 2:15.
"Without a doubt this win will remain one the best of my career and one that I'll always remember. It flashed by in a second but it'll be a special memory," Contador said at the finish.
"I knew it was risky to try and attack so far out, but I really wanted this victory and I like to do things like that."
Simon Geschke and Ben King, who were in the day’s main break, bravely hung on for second and third on the stage but it was Contador who picked up his second stage win in a row after an unstoppable performance. He struggled for form throughout 2013 but if stage 4 to Cittareale was his resurrection then today was a confirmation.
He began his road to victory with a probing attack on the lower slopes of the Passo Lanciano. His team had set the pace on the run into the climb, and with Kwiatkowski struggling, Nairo Quitana and Contador jumped clear. The pair sat up soon after but the main field was already down to 25 riders by the time Wout Poels had led Kwiatkowski back into contention.
The remnants of the day’s earlier break, which had consisted of Benjamin King (Garmin Sharp), Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol), David De La Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling), Andriy Grivko (Astana), Yaroslav Popovych (Trek Factory Racing), Luca Paolini (Katusha) and Simon Geschke (Giant Shimano) were scattered over the climb but only King, Geschke, De La Cruz and Hansen were still ahead of the field by the time Contador launched his main attack with 30 kilometres to go.
It was classic Contador: first he dragged himself to the back of the group, sizing up his tiring competition, and when Mikel Nieve ratcheted up the pace Contador used it as a spring board to tear the race apart.
Even Quintana, one of the riders who had made Contador look so ordinary during last year’s Tour de France, failed to latch on as the Tinkoff leader set about completing one of his most dominant career performances. They had been few and far between since his return from a drugs ban, but this was Contador at something like his best as he cut through tree lines and quickly established a lead over his former GC rivals.
Contador picked up Hansen by the top of the climb, but King, De La Cruz and Geschke were a minute ahead. Behind Contador, Quitana linked up with a group containing Jean-Christophe Peraud, Giampaolo Caruso and Domenico Pozzovivo. They trailed Contador by close to a minute at the summit but further down the climb Kwiatkowski was in a desperate situation. Rigoberto Uran had made it back to the young Pole’s side but he and Poels could only watch as their leader’s hopes fell apart under the pressure of a rampaging Contador.
In the valley before the final climb Contador and Hansen – who had been briefly dropped on the descent – made contact with the leading trio but there was another glimpse of the Contador of old as he sped to the front of the group. The rest could merely fall in line as the gap to Quintana’s group drifted out to almost two minutes.
De La Cruz was the first to fall back from the leading group, but King added spice to the mix with a brave solo move just before the 30 percent pitches. But Contador wasn't to be stopped. He kicked once more to bring the American back and even though Geschke briefly rallied, the Giant-Shimano rider could only watch on when Contador attacked for a final devastating time. Contador is one of the best climbers in the world but was stunned by how difficult the final climb to the finish was.
"It's an incredible climb, I've never seen anything like that," he said.
"Winning the stage wasn't the most important thing today but I gave it a go. I rode the final 500 metres steady to make sure I finished okay and so that I could enjoy winning."
Contador waits in the wings
The riders gathered on the outskirts of Amatrice, with many testing their granny gears on the climb to the sign-on to make sure they worked for the finish on the Muro di Guardiagrele. A total of 169 riders started the 192km stage. Thibaut Pinot (Fdj.fr) and Robert Gesink (Belkin) climbed off during Saturday's stage and Richie Porte (Team Sky) was the only non-starter.
