Alberto Contador (Astana) snapped a spoke on the climb to the finish and had to go deep to chase Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval), but after the two important stages in the Dolomites, the 2007 Tour de France winner pulled on the Giro d'Italia pink leader's jersey today and made it clear he will not be letting it go without a fight.
Italy's Emanuele Sella of the CSF Group team won the stage with another lone attack but Contador was sixth and took the leader's jersey from Italy's Gabriele Bosisio.
"I came to the Giro thinking about the stages, but little by little, people in my team lifted my morale and convinced me to keep fighting. I started feeling
better and better, now I've got the pink jersey," Contador said at the race leader's press conference.
"The pink jersey is a special present for me. If someone had told me 20 days ago when I was lying on the beach that I would be in the pink jersey in the Dolomites, I wouldn't have believed them."
"Yesterday [Saturday] wasn't a good day for me. I had lot of allergy problems to begin with and so I was happy with how the stage went. Fortunately today it started to rain and I felt a lot better."
"At one point I didn't feel good and that's when Ricco and Menchov started attacking. I thought my chances of taking the pink jersey had gone but when we started the Marmolada I felt a lot different. I broke a spoke six kilometres from the finish and wasn't sure what to do because I couldn't stand on the pedals much. In the end I opened my brake and tried to chase Ricco as much as I could."
"I think Ricco is the most dangerous now. He showed that he's very strong by attacking on the climb to the final," Contador said.
"Bruseghin, Menchov, Di Luca and Simoni are also dangerous because the time gaps are still very small. I know I will have to watch all of them."
"I think today is a perfect day to take the pink jersey. It's the mountain time trial tomorrow (Monday) and so my team mates can rest up a bit. I don't know
what the climb but I don't think the time gaps will be too big tomorrow because it's not a time trial for specialists. I hope to keep the pink jersey."
"Of course all the other stages will be dangerous, especially next Saturday's stage that includes the climb of the Mortirolo. Fortunately the final stage time trial on Sunday will help me gain any time I may lose."
Contador will start last in Monday's 12.9km mountain time trial to the ski station at Plan de Corones. The dirt climb will be a real test of rider's strength but
GIRO D'ITALIA 2008: STAGE REPORTS
GIRO D'ITALIA 2008: NEWS
GIRO D'ITALIA 2008: PHOTOS
Giro d'Italia 2008: Photo gallery, week two - new photos added daily
Giro d'Italia 2008: Photo gallery, week one.
GIRO D'ITALIA 2008: FEATURES
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