Millar wins Giro's final time trial, overall result in doubt

David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) won the 2011 Giro d'Italia's final time trial in Milan today but the overall result will have to be kept on ice.

Millar's win capped a superb weekend for British cycling fans as Geraint Thomas won Bayern-Rundfahrt in Germany today, after Bradley Wiggins won the race's time trial on Saturday ahead of Fabian Cancellara.

Thomas's result, the best of his career so far, may not compare to a Grand Tour win, but at least we can be confident the result will stand. Sadly the same can't be said for the Giro.

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) was presented with the winner's pink jersey and gold trophy but with a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) still pending the result of this year's Giro cannot be validated.

If Contador is banned by CAS it will render the last three weeks a huge waste of time. Contador's effect on this race has been enormous, and it's not as simple as taking him out of the results and promoting everybody else.

Incredibly this year's Tour could go exactly the same way now that CAS has postponed the hearing.

Contador - who is showing more and more of the traits that Lance Armstrong did at his most ostentatious - has refused to bow, or show a modicum of sympathy for the race whose result will be rendered meaningless if CAS decide to ban him and strip him of all results since last July due to his positive test for Clenbuterol.

"Sincerely?" he responded to Cycling Weekly's question in a press conference last week. "Those are things that don't even warrant a moment of my time." Believing he is innocent is one thing, showing no respect for the race and the situation he has put it in is quite another.

Contador has even tried to fool people in to thinking that the fans love having him here, but no one with any sense is listening.

But perhaps Contador is the winner this race deserves. Organiser Angelo Zomegnan said there was nothing he could do to stop Contador riding when asked at a press conference in London earlier this year, but his lack of conviction when trying to look hard done-by was laughable.

And who else would have pulled the Spaniard out? His team? That's a joke.

Bjarne Riis, the man who doped to win the 1996 Tour de France and then showed no remorse when admitting it years ago, had the temerity to suggest he runs a clean team. Before the race started in Turin the man who once coached Tyler Hamilton and Ivan Basso said; "I think people know what sort of team I run." Yes Bjarne, we know exactly what sort of team you run.

The Spanish Cycling Federation certainly weren't going to stop him. Out of everyone involved, they're the ones who have come out of this whole sorry situation the worst. Not only did they roll over and clear Contador for no good reason, they have helped him beat the system every step of the way.

In February Pat McQuaid, President of the UCI, told us how the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) had sent the UCI their overly complex and overly long documents concerning the case just days before Christmas - as late as they possibly could.

Translating the documents from Spanish meant the UCI had to wait until well into the new year to come to a decision on their next move, meanwhile RFEC complained about the delay.

Now it looks like they're doing the same with CAS so their star rider can ride the Tour. Considering Contador's only argument is 'it was the steak', and considering he has no proof to back that up, there seems little need for 100 page documents written in complex Spanish legalese.

So who does that leave to protect the race? The UCI? The sport's governing body is in fact powerless to stop Contador from riding, and have kept a very low profile during this year's Giro. Unfortunately for them, as they've fanned the flames of the Contador case, they've been completely engulfed by the Armstrong inferno.

All of which leaves the sport in a very sorry state. Thankfully FIFA has stooped so low that it's managing to make cycling look good at the moment, but they're much better at covering up scandals and corruption than cycling, and will do so again.

So, will the last person to leave please turn out the light.

RESULT

Giro d'Italia stage 21, Milan-Milan 25.5km

1. David Millar (GB) Garmin-Cervelo 30-13 minutes

2. Alex Rasmussen (Den) HTC-Highroad at 7 secs

3. Alberto Contador (Esp) Saxo-Bank at 36 secs

4. Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo-Bank at 43 secs

5. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack at 55 secs

6. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank at 1-02 minutes

7. Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin-Cervelo at 1-04 minutes

8. Patrick Gretsch (Ger) HTC-Highroad at 1-08 minutes

9. Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack at 1-12 minutes

10. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad at 1-16 minutes

Final overall classification

1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo Bank-Sungard in 84-05-14

2. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-ISD at 6-10

3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 6-56

4. John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:04

5. Joaquin Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katushaat 11-05

6. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana at 11-28

7. Jose Rujano (Ven) Androni Giocattoli at 12-12

8. Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC at 12-18

9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank at 13-51

10. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad at 14-10

Other

87. Peter Kennaugh (GB) Sky at 2-54-07

100. David Millar (GB) Garmin-Cervelo at 3-14-39

140. Russell Downing (GB) Sky at 4-09-56

Stage winner David Millar

Overall winner Alberto Contador

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Giro d'Italia 2011: Stage reports

Stage 20: Kiryienka wins final road stage as scrap for overall places unfolds

Stage 19: Tiralongo grinds to Giro stage win

Stage 18: Capecchi takes Giro stage win as contenders take day off

Stage 17: Ulissi prevails in controversial Giro sprint

Stage 16: Contador lords it over the rest in Giro TT

Stage 15: Nieve wins mountain marathon as Contador continues at the top

Stage 14: Anton conquers Zoncolan in shortened stage

Stage 13: Contador consolidates Giro overall as Rujano takes stage

Stage 12: Cavendish holds off Appollonio to take second victory

Stage 11: Gadret grabs dramatic stage win

Stage 10: Cavendish opens his Giro account

Stage nine: Contador storms Etna to take Giro lead

Stage eight: Gatto springs late attack to take win

Stage seven: Neo-pro De Clercq wins by a whisker

Stage six: Ventoso steals Giro stage six win

Stage five: Weening holds on to take stage and maglia rosa

Stage four: Tearful Farrar and Leopard-Trek lead riders across stage four finish line

Stage three: Vicioso victory overshadowed by Weylandt crash

Stage two: Petacchi wins as Cavendish takes lead

Stage one: HTC-Highroad wins Giro's opening team time trial

Giro d'Italia 2011: Photo galleries

Stage 20 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 19 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 18 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 17 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 16 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 15 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 14 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 13 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 12 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 11 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 10 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage nine photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage eight photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage seven photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage six photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage five photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage four photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage three photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage two photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage one photo gallery by Graham Watson

Giro d'Italia 2011: Live text coverage

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage 19 live text updates

All previous live coverage can be found here>>

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage 16 live text updates

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage 13 live text updates

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage 11 live text updates

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage seven live text updates

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage five live text updates

Follow the 2011 Giro d'Italia live with Cycling Weekly

Giro d'Italia 2011: Start list

Giro d'Italia 2011: Start list

Giro d'Italia 2011: TV schedule

Giro d'Italia 2011: British Eurosport TV schedule

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Giro d'Italia 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index