2014 Vuelta a España Stage 21: Contador wins third title as Malori takes concluding chrono

Alberto Contador rode the 2014 Vuelta a España’s concluding time trial conservatively on wet roads in Santiago de Compestela to take his third Spanish Grand Tour title. Sunday’s victory came two months after Contador broke his leg at the Tour de France. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider is tied with Swiss Tony Rominger with three Vuelta wins, one behind Roberto Heras. Contador is now sixth in all-around Grand Tour wins, right behind compatriot Miguel Indurain.

The time of Movistar’s Adriano Malori (Italy), 11:12, stood for the majority of the stage because of the wet roads that plagued the course soon after his finish. Rohan Dennis (Australia/BMC) threatened Malori’s time on course but found the pouring rain a hindrance and then crashed at cobbled finish line that also marks the end of the Camino de Santiago – the Santiago pilgrims’ trail, running across Spain to Galicia.

Tony Martin (Germany/Omega Pharma-QuickStep), winner of the Stage 10 chrono, had retired during Stage 15.

The sun came out for Ryder Hesjedal, but the roads were still slick, bringing the Canadian in over 2:00 slower than Malori. Hesjedal hung onto his 24th place on GC.

The roads were slightly drier for the final ten riders. Seventh place Daniel Martin (Ireland/Garmin-Sharp) was looking to overcome sixth place Sammy Sanchez’s 17-second advantage. Damiano Caruso (Italy/Cannondale) in tenth was hoping to usurp Daniel Navarro (Spain/Cofidis) in ninth by making up six-seconds. Sanchez secured his spot, but Caruso was able to jump Navarro.

Chris Froome (Great Britain/Sky) was able to close 27-seconds to Contador, but he didn’t have the road to get any nearer. Contador eased over the line with a fist raised in celebration.

Malori’s first career Grand Tour win was Movistar’s third stage triumph of the Vuelta. Only Giant-Shimano, via John Degenkolb’s four sprint victories, had more.

2014 Vuelta a España Stage 21
1) Adriano Malori (Italy/Movistar) 11:12
2) Jesse Sergent (New Zealand/Trek) +0:08
3) Rohan Dennis (Australia/BMC) +0:09
91) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Cannondale) +1:35
140) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Garmin-Sharp) +2:11

2014 Vuelta a España Final GC
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 81:25:05 – third Vuelta title, sixth Grand Tour title
2) Chris Froome (Great Britain/Sky) +1:10 – third Grand Tour runner-up spot
3) Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Movistar) +1:50 – third consecutive Vuelta podium, sixth in career
4) Joaquím Rodríguez (Spain/Katusha) +3:25 – 1st year since 2011 he didn’t podium in Grand Tour
5) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +4:48 – also third in this year’s Giro d’Italia
6) Sammy Sánchez (Spain/BMC) +9:30 – sixth Vuelta top ten
7) Daniel Martin (Ireland/Garmin-Sharp) +10:38 – Martin’s highest Grand Tour finish
8) Warren Barguil (France/Giant-Shimano) +11:50 – won two stages of last year’s Vuelta
9) Damiano Caruso (Italy/Cannondale) +12:50 – first Cannondale GT top-10 since Basso in 2012 Giro
10) Daniel Navarro (Spain/Cofidis) +13:02 – only second 2014 Grand Tour wildcard team top-10 finish
24) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Garmin-Sharp) +1:05:25 – completes Vuelta for 1st time in three tries
149) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Cannondale) +4:41:16 – completes first Grand Tour

Green jersey: John Degenkolb (Germany/Giant-Shimano)
Polka dot jersey: Luis León Sanchez (Spain/Caja-Rural)
White jersey (combined): Alberto Contador
Team classification: Katusha