On the last terrible ascent of the Asturias triptych, at the top of Farrapona the Vuelta found its master: Alberto Contador, already in the red jersey, after defending himself on Saturday on Camperona and Sunday on Lagos de Covadonga, yesterday landed a decisive blow his opponents with a breathtaking sprint one km from the finish, which also shattered Froome's resistance, the last one to give in to the unleashed Pistolero.
Valverde, Rodriguez and Aru had already fallen behind, powerless to hold on to Froome's brutal sprint when there were 4 km to go from the finish line, an action, that of the British in clear recovery compared to the past few days, which however failed to surprise Contador: in just time the two big names – a show for those who love cycling – reached De Marchi, generous and combative, who on the final ramps had detached his teammates in a 13-man breakaway that will be remembered above all for the fist fight between Gianluca Brambilla and the Russian Ivam Rovny , which ended with the expulsion of both from the race.
At the Puerto de la Farrapona Contador crossed the finish line alone, holding out his thumb and forefinger in the classic pistol gesture: a triumph for the Spanish champion who only a month and a half ago seemed resigned to closing the season after the microfracture caused by a crash in the Tour. Froome reached 15”. Valverde finished fourth at 55” also preceded by De Marchi.
Rodriguez closed at 59”, behind him Aru at 1'06. The top five does not change but on the eve of the second rest day, five stages from the closing, the classification speaks increasingly in favor of Contador who is close to his third success in the Vuelta after the victories in 2008 and 2008. The red jersey will restart tomorrow with a lead of 1'36” over Valverde, whose second place is now threatened by Froome just three seconds behind the Spaniard from Movistar, easily undoable in the final mini-time trial in Santiago de Compostela.
Fourth, off the podium and still without any stage victories, is Rodriguez 2'29” behind Contador. Aru effortlessly maintains his fifth place at 3'38” having almost three minutes ahead of Daniel Martin who is sixth. Rigoberto Uran also disappeared from the top ten, after a stage, an authentic ordeal for the Colombian of the Omega Pharma QuicK Step, closed over 15 minutes late by Contador, the master of the stage and also of the Vuelta.
