Contador chooses battles on Zoncolon summit at Giro d'Italia

Alberto Contador remained in control of the Giro d'Italia on the steep slopes of Monte Zoncolon on Saturday.

The Spanish cyclist let fellow countryman Igor Anton (Euskaltel Euskadi) escape to a Stage 14 victory, while denying help to second-place rival Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) as he marked the Italian's pace up the mountain.

The 170km (105 miles) bike race from Lienz to Monte Zoncolon was the second of three summit finishes planned for the weekend.

Stage shortened

The route was shortened twice: once by 20km to remove the Monte Crostis descent, and another 20km to detour around fans protesting the removal of the pass from the course.

In spite of a three-man breakaway, the race was decided among the leaders on the 6-mile ascent of the Zoncolon, boasting a 12% average grade. Bram Tankirk (Rabobank) was the last of three to be caught up the mountain.

The tempo on the earlier passes had split apart the peloton so that only a group of 20 remained with Contador as the climb began.

Attacking the summit

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) was the first to attack. Contador remained comfortably in the group, until Anton attacked. Contador responded by catching Anton, then the two Spaniards caught Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Michele Scarponi arrives, making a four-man group.

Then Anton attacked solo up the mountain and was never caught. The No. 2 cyclist in the General Classification, Vincenzo Nibali scratches his way up to Contador and Scarponi, then pedals right past them. Contador follows, dropping Scarponi for the day.

Contador lets Nibali set the pace up the mountain. At several points, Contador and Nibali rode side-by-side. It appeared Nibali asked Contador something and the race leader shook his head “no.” You could speculate that Nibali was asking for help, which Contador denied.

Finally Contador accelerated his pace, but not to help Nibali. Contador surged ahead of him up the narrow roads and through the tunnels to the mountaintop finish. Nibali nearly caught up to Contador once, and Contador easily pulled ahead.

So once again, Contador proved to his rivals that he could pick his own battles and choose when to attack. On Saturday, he gained another 7 seconds on Nibali.