Contador vs. Froome at the Vuelta a Espana Has Been Worth the Wait
Anyone who has been following this year's Vuelta a Espana will know it has not been all about Alberto Contador and Chris Froome.
Heading into Stage 17 on Wednesday, Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Katusha's Joaquim Rodriguez are still in contention for podium places. One of the young stars of 2014, Astana's Fabio Aru, has been in impressive form and does not sit too far behind in fifth.
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Save for two awful, race-ending days last week, this year's Giro d'Italia champion, Nairo Quintana, would almost certainly have been in the general classification conversation. Meanwhile, some stirring breakaways and John Degenkolb adding to his burgeoning Vuelta win tally in the sprints has meant there has been plenty to savour elsewhere.
With all that said, Contador and Froome's renewing of their competitive acquaintance was expected—and has turned out to be—one of the main draws of the year's final Grand Tour.
Two of cycling's premier three-week specialists, their planned-for meeting at this year's Tour de France did not come to fruition after both crashed out.
The background to that hoped-for contest began with their first notable crossing of paths at the Vuelta two years ago.
Froome—fatigued after his tremendous efforts helping Sky and Bradley Wiggins to Tour victory, and winning time trial bronze for Great Britain at London 2012—could neither repeat nor exceed the previous year's reputation-making second-place ride in Spain.
He could not get close to an inspired Contador, hellbent on making up for time lost during his preceding ban for a positive drugs test (which he blamed on an accidental contamination).
The Spaniard won, but the subsequent positivity was to prove short-lived. In 2013, top-level form never quite materialised for Contador, at least compared to the brilliant run of stage-race victories Froome enjoyed. The latter's superiority was typified at the Tour de France that July, winning ahead of Quintana and Rodriguez, an off-the-pace Contador in fourth.
The prospect of the two takings leads in the tale of the 2014 Tour was a tantalising one. Respective successes in early 2014 set the scene, before they took turns testing each other in the story's prologue, June's Criterium du Dauphine.
It was never going to be just about Contador and Froome at this year's Tour. Although his quiet ride in the Dauphine saw his own form come under question, Vincenzo Nibali of Astana harboured ambitions of a crack at the yellow jersey after his earlier successes in Spain and his native Italy. Having already gained an initial advantage prior to the favourites abandoning, Nibali ultimately dominated in France in his rivals' absence.
While, as already noted, there also was more to the ongoing Vuelta than what this article's main protagonists did, there was always going to be some focus on their efforts. The added twist was their questionable fitnesses resulting from their Tour de France crashes.
Both spoke about their respective battles to recover from injuries suffered earlier in the summer.
"I know it will be a Vuelta that I’ll have to do in a very different way than I had imagined earlier on in the season and during the first part of the Tour," Contador noted in the above video, via his Tinkoff-Saxo team's official website.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Froome was similarly cautiously optimistic: "It has been a different approach to how I'd approach the Tour de France but I am here with less pressure and hoping to finish off the season in a good way."
Stage One's team time trial in Jerez de la Frontera saw Movistar's main men of Quintana and Valverde gain the early advantage. They kept it through to the first rest day in an entertaining, if largely uneventful opening nine days.
What has followed between Contador and Froome has not disappointed, even if it has been—and likely will remain—exciting rather than thrillingly close.
The Stage 10 individual time trial to Borja that severely damaged Quintana's ambitions also hurt Froome's. He ended the day one minute and 18 seconds down to Contador on the GC. "For the first 15 minutes I felt fantastic and I think I chased it a little much," Froome told Team Sky's official website of the start that left him struggling on the day's climbs.
Where Contador looked to be finding the legs that had rode him to impressive spring wins in Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Basque Country, Froome still looked someway off his best. The 29-year-old's search for it resulted in a compelling few days that saw him stoically hold on in the face of attacks that would have knocked down lesser men.
Stages 14 through 16 were pinpointed as the potentially race-shaping days of this year's Vuelta. Those at the top of the GC attempted to turn them into such.
On 14, up La Camperona, Froome appeared to be struggling behind the race's Contador-led chief Spanish contingent. Instead, he had been biding his time and finished the day speeding ahead of them to regain some time.
Those seconds were lost the following day up the hors categorie ascent of Lagos de Covadonga. Sky's leader looked to be on the limit, but he commendably maintained a reasonable distance as Spain's best failed to leave him behind. Contador's wariness of his rival's threat was seen in his frequent looks over the shoulder to check they were not being sneaked up on.
Then came the five-climb Stage 16 to La Farrapona.
The superiority of Contador and Froome was seen in a thrilling battle on the final climb. The British rider attacked, doing his utmost to leave the Spaniard behind. Contador held on, knowing just keeping close to Froome would be enough.
"We talked in the morning and we felt that the best scenario would be if Froome attacked early and Alberto went with him," Riis revealed to Biciciclismo, via CyclingNews.com. "That way, we only had to follow the wheel."
Contador not only did that, he raced away to win his first stage and head into Tuesday's rest day one minute, 39 seconds ahead of third-placed Froome (with Valverde sitting three seconds ahead of the latter, but dropped on the day).
The Vuelta is not over yet, not for any of the top four heading into Stage 17's bumpy run into A Coruna.
Thursday and Friday then pose their challenges, but Saturday's leg-killer of a penultimate stage, culminating in another HC climb up Puerto de Ancares, is where any real remaining drama is likely to take place.
Sunday's concluding time trial around should provide an opportunity for those seeking an individual win rather than the red jersey. Whatever the circumstances as the peloton individually works their way around Santiago de Compostela, we are likely to be reflecting on a Contador vs. Froome duel that has been worth the wait.
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