On a cold and rainy day with a series of challenging climbs and a mountaintop finish, only the Saxo Bank superstar looked comfortable. He rode with the peloton over the first three climbs ignoring the breakaway and subsequent attacks, then launched his own bid on the slopes of the Grossglockner, and the race was essentially over.
Contador didn’t win the stage but he almost certainly won the 2011 Giro with his stupendous ride.
José Rujano showed again, as he did in Stage Nine, that he is the only rider who can stay near Contador when the Spanish champion decides to go. Contador let Rujano take the stage win, content to take out a minute or more from his main rivals.
Behind the winning duo, John Gadret of AG2R made a great late effort to take third, with his teammate Hubert Dupont just behind.
The other GC contenders, Roman Kreuziger, Vincenzo Nibali, and Michele Scarponi, finished sixth through eighth, 96 seconds off the pace.
“I tried to keep pace with Alberto—it is absolutely impossible to attack him,” Vincenzo Nibali told Eurosport.
Next Stages
Stage 14 will be even harder than today’s stage. 210 km from Lienz to Monte Zoncalon, the stage contains five categorized climbs: two Threes and a Two followed by a pair of Ones, including the mountaintop finish on Monte Zoncalon.
Contador could simply ride with the peloton and watch the rest of the GC contenders fight for second place, or he could make another of his amazing attacks on the final climb, and completely bury the field.
Stage 14 includes the controversial Monte Crostis ascent. This Cat One climb has so many dangerous corners, with no guardrails and lethal drops, that organizers are still debating if it should be included.
Organizers have already strung safety netting and laid out inflatable barriers among the worst sections, but the worry remains, that if it rains again, there could be another tragedy.
This might not have been such a concern had not Wouter Weylandts been killed by a fall in Stage Three. Organizers cannot afford another such incident in a single Grand Tour race—the emotional impact, the outcry, and the attacks it would bring upon the sport of cycling would not be as tragic as the loss of a rider, but their impacts would affect all riders around the world.
Stage 15, 229 km from Conegliano to Gardeccia Val di Fassa, is another killer, with a Cat One, a Cat Two, and an HC climb, followed by another Cat One, and then a Cat One mountaintop finish.
Looking at the profile, it is hard to comprehend how a rider could finish the stage, but it is certain that riders will not only ride it, they will race on it. Even if no one had a chance to catch Contador by then, they will at least be contending for the other steps of the podium.
| 2011 Giro d’Italia Stage 13 Results | ||
| 1 | José Rujano (Androni) | 4:45:54 |
| 2 | Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) | 4:45:54 |
| 3 | John Gadret (AG2R) | +1:27 |
| 4 | Hubert Dupont (AG2R) | +1:29 |
| 5 | Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) | +1:29 |
| 6 | Roman Kreuziger (Astana) | +1:36 |
| 7 | Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) | +1:36 |
| 8 | Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) | +1:36 |
| 9 | Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar Team) | +1:36 |
| 10 | Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) | +1:36 |
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| General Classification after Stage 13 | ||
| 1 | Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) |
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| 2 | Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) | +3:09 |
| 3 | Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) | +3:16 |
| 4 | David Arroyo (Movistar) | +3:25 |
| 5 | Roman Kreuziger (Astana) | +3:29 |
| 6 | Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Highroad) | +3:53 |
| 7 | Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) | +4:02 |
| 8 | John Gadret (AG2R) | +4:06 |
| 9 | Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM) | +4:35 |
| 10 | Hubert Dupont (AG2R) | +4:38 |
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