Leipheimer, Horner Climb with Contador
Volta a Catalunya
Stage 3: La Vall d'En Bas to Andorra-Vallnord, 183.9km/114mi
By Cathy Mehl
When the roads go up the action always gets exciting in professional cycling and today’s stage 3 in the Volta a Catalunya was certainly no exception. Team riders Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner both had good legs and followed the winning attack launched by Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) with Levi holding on for third place behind Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD). Horner arrived a few second later for 5th place, bolstering the team’s first place position in the Teams classification.
Team Director Jose Azevedo was pleased with today’s results, saying, “We are happy. You know you cannot do anything against a Contador who’s in shape and going uphill. We’re now second in GC with Levi and this is good. We have to recognize that Alberto is better in this. But we’ll defend our position and hope for more. And the Team GC looks good too.”
A six man group formed the escape of the day and built a gap of more than seven minutes to the main field where responsibilities were shared by Team RadioShack and Saxo Bank-Sungard. But with the hors-categorie climb to Vallnord looming large, it was only a matter of time and tired legs before the leaders were brought back with less than 25k to go.
Saxo Bank-SunGard upped the pace of the group on the final pitch to Vallnord, launching Contador to his favorite playground with almost 6km still to ride. Levi followed the initial attack and was soon joined by Scarponi but Contador held his advantage to take the win in the 100th edition of the Volta a Catalunya.
Team rider Jani Brajkovic was sick before the stage, “so we can’t complain about his performance,” said Azevedo. “Besides, his objectives are later in the season.”
Team Note: Team RadioShack fans can join in the fun with Team Manager Johan Bruyneel and The Fat Cyclist by taking part in a live Q&A today at 5:30PM ET. Follow the link and take part in the conversation. http://fatcy.cl/johan-qa
Beyond the Finish Line: Andorra is a small landlocked country in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France. The official language is Catalan and is well-known for its tourism industry, especially winter sports and recreation. According to the website for the ski area at Vallnord, this weekend there is a Ski Party on Saturday and Sunday is a day to ski free.
Top Ten Results
1 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP SAXO BANK SUNGARD 4:45:31
2 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAMPRE-ISD a 23
3 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA TEAM RADIOSHACK a 23
4 MARTIN, Daniel IRL TEAM GARMIN-CERVELO a 35
5 HORNER, Chris USA TEAM RADIOSHACK a 35
6 CANO, Alex COL COL. ES PASION-CAFE a 35
7 BASSO, Ivan ITA LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE a 38
8 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY PROCYCLING a 38
9 TONDO, Xavier ESP MOVISTAR TEAM a 38
10 EVANS, Cadel AUS BMC RACING TEAM a 50
Team RadioShack Results
16 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP a 01:12
20 BRAJKOVIC, Jani SLO a 01:20
74 ROVNY, Ivan RUS a 09:01
78 DEIGNAN, Philip IRL a 09:01
132 MCCARTNEY, Jason USA a 16:55
159 CARDOSO, Manuel Por a 21:04
General Classification after Stage 3
1 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP SAXO BANK SUNGARD 13:05:55
2 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA TEAM RADIOSHACK a 23
3 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAMPRE-ISD a 23
4 MARTIN, Daniel IRL TEAM GARMIN-CERVELO a 35
5 HORNER, Chris USA TEAM RADIOSHACK a 35
6 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY PROCYCLING a 38
7 BASSO, Ivan ITA LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE a 38
8 TONDO, Xavier ESP MOVISTAR TEAM a 38
9 EVANS, Cadel AUS BMC RACING TEAM a 50
10 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED RABOBANK CYCLING Tea a 01:12
Team RadioShack on General Classification
15 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP a 01:12
18 BRAJKOVIC, Jani SLO a 01:20
64 ROVNY, Ivan RUS a 09:01
69 DEIGNAN, Philip IRL a 09:01
154 MCCARTNEY, Jason USA a 31:27
164 CARDOSO, Manuel POR a 33:53
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