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2015 Giro d'Italia: Is Contador's race already over?

Alberto Contador was unable to don the leader's after a crash-marred Stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia. (Tinkoff-Saxo)
Roar Guru
14th May, 2015
5

Alberto Contador’s ambitions of winning the Giro d’Italia are potentially over after a crash-affected finale to Stage 6, which was won by Lotto Soudal’s Andre Greipel.

Il Garibaldi‘, as the local affectionately call it, should have been about Greipel’s dominant performance in the sprint finish after the German decisively out-sprinted Matteo Pelucchi and Sacha Modolo to the line.

However, a crash-marred finale resulted in at least one rider, Daniele Colli (Nippo-Vini Fantini), abandon the Giro due to race-ending injuries.

And, after going down in the crash, Contador may be next to abandon.

After three hard-medium mountain stages the riders were happy to have a relatively easy day as they made the 183 kilometre-long journey from Montecatini Terme to Castiglione Della Pescaia. Strong crosswinds within the final third of the race soon dashed the rider’s hopes of a relaxing ride to the finish however, with the teams of the general classification contenders fighting fiercely at the head of the pack to protect their leaders from a split in the peloton.

The breakaway of the day was eventually formed by five riders from the teams of Cannondale–Garmin, CCC Sprandi Polkowice, Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec, and Nippo–Vini Fantini. Taking over control of chase duties quite early thanks to a tailwind, Lotto Soudal let the breakaway’s time gap reach a maximum of five minutes before slowly reeling them in.

Once the GC contenders were past the three kilometres to go banner and away from the danger of crosswinds splitting the peloton, the sprinters’ teams re-assumed control.

It was Lotto Soudal dominating the front of the race coming in to the sprint finish, with the Belgian team perfectly positioning Greg Henderson to open up the sprint for Greipel.

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During the sprint Colli appeared to to be brought down close to the barriers by a large camera lens protruding out from the crowd and over the safety barrier. The collision and resulting crash, which looked to have dislocated the young Italian’s left arm, caused a ripple effect down the peloton and caught out several riders.

It did not take long for viewers to notice that current race leader Alberto Contador was brought down among the chaos. The Spaniard managed to remount and cross the line for Tinkoff-Saxo, but was quick to escape the attention of the media and meet with his team and race medics.

Called out to receive the Maglia Rosa for a second stage during the post-stage presentations, a sore Contador had to graciously reject putting the pink jersey on due to what the world suspected was an injury to his left arm.

Tinkoff–Saxo’s press officer later spoke to Eurosport to explain that the Spaniard had a sore knee and bad shoulder after the crash, and that the team would need to seek further medical consultation, such as taking x-rays, before deciding what was next for ‘El Pistolero’.

So heading in to Stage 7 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia, the longest stage of this year’s race, the world holds its breathe in anticipation of news regarding whether or not Alberto Contador will be fit to continue challenging for the Maglia Rosa.

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