March 18/14 22:49 pm - Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 7 and Final GC

Posted by Editoress on 03/18/14
 

Alberto Contador wins Tirreno-Adriatico
Malori beats Cancellara & Wiggins in final time trial

Spain’s Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the 49th Tirreno-Adriatico this afternoon. Contador finished 29th in today’s final time trial to seal his overall win, which will remain long in the memory for the champion’s two brilliant mountain stage wins in as many days.

Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), and Contador’s team-mate Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo), occupied the second and third steps of the final podium  Today’s final stage, the traditional flat, fast 9.15 km individual time trial along San Benedetto del Tronto’s broad promenade, featured most of the world’s fastest time trial specialists. Italy’s Adriano Malori (Movistar Team), 26, won the stage convincingly, beating Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) by 6 seconds and Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) by 11 seconds.

After the stage, the champion of the 49th Tirreno-Adriatico, Alberto Contador, and today’s stage winner, Adriano Malori, spoke to the press.
 
Adriano Malori (Movistar Team)
Victory near the town where he took the Maglia Rosa in 2012: “I’ll come back to this part of Italy on holiday. It’s beautiful and it brings me luck. It still hasn’t sunk in. The result list is fantastic: my name above all the strongest specialists, it’s truly hard to believe.”
The challenge of longer time trials: “I’d like to do well at the World’s this year. Long time trials are a matter of being used to them: Tony Martin and Fabien Cancellara have ridden lots of Giros d’Italia, Tours de France and Tours of Spain. But I’ve worked hard on this and I think I can do well in future. 

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo)
 
Minutes, not seconds: “I came to this race wanting to win it. I wasn’t happy at Arezzo when when I lost 6 seconds to Sagan and Kwiatkowski, because I thought those seconds might be decisive. But in the end I’ve won by a matter of minutes, so I’m very happy.”
 
The solo attack to Guardiagrele: “I wanted to do something different. In the morning, on the bus, I said that If I would go alone, if I thought I could make it all the way to the finish. It wasn’t in my plans to ride across to a group of breakaway riders, of course, but I was motivated that morning.”
 
The romance of the long-distance attack: “The crowds for the Tirreno have been big. In the end, people want to see something different: it’s what we all want in cycling. It’s not easy, and sometimes the opportunity never arises, or you don’t have the legs. But I was very happy the previous day, when I took my first uphill stage win, and, at Guardiagrele, I think I was 3 or 4 times happier."

Press release