Alberto Contador on a solo attack up the Angliru (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) went out with the panache that typified his career on Saturday, taking out the penultimate stage of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana on one of Spain's most notorious climbs, the Alto de l’Angliru and its gradients of more than 20 per cent.
Contador attacked the general classification group of race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) on the daunting lowers slopes of the final climb, then opened up a gap that put multiple riders' podium spots in jeopardy, if not Froome's. In the end, Contador finished 17 seconds ahead of Team Sky's Wout Poels and Froome, while Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merdida) in second overall, and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) in third, finished 51 seconds back. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) finished 35 seconds down on the stage and moved from fourth overall to third, while Contador moved up one spot to fourth overall, just missing the podium in his final Grand Tour.
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