Road: Impressive Time Trial Performances Distinguish Astana Riders; Contador and Klöden Poised For Mountain Stages

One man, Italian rider Marzio Bruseghin, along with rainy conditions, kept the Astana Cycling Team from victory in the 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia, a 39.4 K individual time trial which started in Pesaro and ended in Urbino.  Alberto Contador raced his Trek Equinox TTX to second place, while team-mate Andreas Klöden came in third.   The rest of Astana placed well and had a strong race:  Levi Leipheimer (9th), Vladimir Gusev (17th) and Andrej Mizurov (26th). The Kazakh-based team showed that even with less-than-ideal preparation, they can play an important role in the Giro d’Italia.

After the first key stage, Alberto Contador is now first of the race's main classification contenders at 6'59" back, Andreas Klöden 55" further back, Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) 1'04", Paolo Savoldelli (LPR Brakes) 1.10, Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) 1'33", Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) and Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 1'58", with Gilberto Simoni (Diquigiovanni) and Levi Leipheimer 2’11”.

“I tried to win the stage. That was my first objective,” commented Alberto Contador. “Believe me, without the rain, I would have been the winner. I didn’t dare to take risks in the end. The last 500 meters on the cobblestones were very slippery as well. Anyway, afterwards I am happy with the time I gained today. My elbow? In the beginning it bothered me a bit, but the further we went in the stage, the better I felt. My second part of the time trial was indeed much better: the elbow, the legs and the performance. I do not want to make provisions for the future. I feel better and better but I have no idea what I can do in the big mountain stages. I have to repeat: we will see day after day.”

Andreas Klöden (3rd at 20”) had the fastest time after 32.2 K of the race. “I felt tired at the end, but I cannot complain. To be beaten by only Bruseghin and Contador is no disgrace.”

The next chance for Astana’s GC contenders to distinguish themselves will likely be Saturday’s mountainous Stage 14, which kicks off three days of tough climbing, including Monday’s 12.85km mountain time trial. Stay tuned as the action heats up and the Astana triple threats of Contador, Klöden, and Leipheimer battle for the maglia rosa.