Contador drinking beers at the beach when Astana got the call

[Archaea]

http://velonews.com/article/76502/la...ador-positions

A day after revealing he had a fractured elbow suffered in a fall Saturday, Contador rode perhaps the best time trial of his young career, matching Bruseghin at the second mid-course time split and then easing off the gas in the final kilometers when rain fell on the spindly Spanish climber.
“I tried to win the stage. That was my first objective. 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,” Contador said. “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.”

Despite his injuries, Contador turned in an impressive ride.
Photo: Graham Watson

Contador’s performance demoralized his Italian rivals, who were already questioning the story that the Tour champ was drinking beers at the beach when the team received a last-minute reprieve to race the Giro just a week before the start in Sicily.
Contador climbed to fourth overall at 6:59 back and moved into the “virtual” lead among the GC favorites, moving 55 seconds ahead of teammate Kloden, 1:05 ahead of the surprisingly steady Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and more than one and a half minutes clear of arch-rivals Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) and defending Giro champ Danilo Di Luca (LPR).