Vuelta a Espana 2017 : Stage 20 – Contador waves farewell from top of Angliru

It’s rare that a rider can end his career how he wants, when he wants, where he wants. So the fact that Alberto Contador did just that makes his solo stage win on Angliru that much more spectacular. An iconic climb for an iconic rider. Right behind Baby Blackbird today was Chris Froome (okay, technically Wout Poels then Froome), who made sure he got up that climb without incident and without sacrificing any time to any of his rivals to be just one stage away from doing the Tour-Vuelta double. Vincenzo Nibali kept his second step on the podium while Ilnur Zakarin toppled Wilco Kelderman to finish third in the GC.

Rider of the Race

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Alberto Contador is just one stage away from retirement – something that has put his fans into a deep funk. But he will go out in the racing style that has set him apart from just about every other rider in the current peloton. Losing a whole load of time in Andorra at the start of the grand tour, it was always going to be a quixotic effort to win the Vuelta, but Baby Blackbird made sure that he put on a show and gave us enough attacking during the stages to make an otherwise controlled Vuelta unpredictable.

Asked Contador this morning whether he'd let head or emotions dictate to him today.

Him: 'My legs.'

Then he winked (again).

— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) September 9, 2017

Today was no different. He said he would ride with everything he had and leave it all out on the road. That he would make the most of his last mountain stage ever. And he did just that, winning solo atop of the brutal and iconic Angliru, after a thrilling ride – often hindered by roadside clowns – that had him grimacing and fighting up double-digit inclines while an awakened Sky pair made a dash to catch him up. From an advantage of around 1.25 at one point on the road to a mere 17 seconds when Poels and Froome crossed the line behind him, Contador had to work hard for this victory and it’s all the sweeter for it.

Chapeau, Baby Blackbird. We will miss you.

Contador's win in his last ever mountain climb is one for the history books. https://t.co/I3eM49Fejn

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) September 9, 2017

Alberto Contador wins on his final ever mountain top finish, final racing stage. Whatever you think of the man, that was some display.

— Orla Chennaoui (@SkyOrla) September 9, 2017

#LV2017 – @albertocontador wins also Supercombativity prize for the 2nd year in a row.

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) September 9, 2017

Champions have the courage to see the impossible. Legends are the ones who succeed.
Thank you @albertocontador
🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/uIIf7zD7Sh

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) September 9, 2017

Doing the double

The high drama and emotion of the finish of this stage did overshadow Chris Froome‘s accomplishment – or near accomplishment as he still has to cross the finish line in Madrid tomorrow – which will be only the third rider in history to win the Tour/Vuelta double in the same year. The last time this happened was 1978 with Bernard Hinault while Jacques Anquetil was the first rider to accomplish the feat, in 1963. By tomorrow evening, Froome will have won 5 grand tours – but he still has a ways to go to match his fellow doublers for overall grand tour wins – Anquetil has 8 and Hinault has 10.

All of the emotion for Chris Froome as he all but secures the Tour/Vuelta double 🙌 #LV2017 pic.twitter.com/LYz7uWckAk

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) September 9, 2017

Froome donned the red jersey on stage 3 and only on the rare occasion did it look like he might give it up. This was largely due to the way his team rode for him – that familiar Skytrain that blows everyone off the French mountains in July did the same in Spain as summer turned to autumn. Froome was rarely isolated in stages and the team were better drilled and stronger for longer than any other. The fact that the stage wins were dominated by break winners (I can think of 10 off the top of my head) – and many of those were maiden grand tour or WorldTour victories for the winners – showed that Sky was going to keep the other GC contenders well and truly under their thumb and they didn’t want any dramatics. It’s not the kind of grand tour racing that makes my heart palpitate but as John Galloway of the Velocast often says, Sky’s job is to win, not entertain. They did their job perfectly.