A sort of homecoming for Alberto Contador, as the Giro d’Italia visited his adopted town of Lugano for the finish of stage 17. The maglia rosa left his native Pinto to live in the capital of Italian-speaking Switzerland three years ago, and it was on the hills overlooking the lake that he carried out his first, secretive training rides last summer after fracturing his tibia at the Tour de France.
“For me, a stage finish here is much more special than any other place we have been,” Contador said. “I've been living here for three years, and I have friends and part of my family here, so of course it's special. We're in the third week of the race now, so I miss my people.”
Contador is not the only international cycling figure to exile himself in the Swiss city, of course. His former Tinkoff-Saxo manager Bjarne Riis, also a resident, was spotted near the finish line on Wednesday, though Vincenzo Nibali is currently out of town, preparing for his Tour de France defence atop Mount Teide.
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In Nibali’s absence, Astana’s challenge at this Giro was initially led by his young dauphin, Fabio Aru, but the balance of power in the team has shifted following Mikel Landa’s brace of stage wins at Madonna di Campiglio and Aprica. Landa, now second overall at 4:02, proved stronger than his erstwhile leader Aru on the Mortirolo on Tuesday, and dropped Contador on the final haul to Aprica for good measure.
“In the end, these situations generate a thousand different opinions,” Contador said when asked for his take on Astana’s leadership contest. “Landa is obviously strong, I have to respect him, like the rest. I imagine they'll try to attack again, and I'll be ready.”
As is his wont, Contador issued a polite warning to the Astana pair when he speculated that they would look particularly to Saturday’s penultimate stage over the dirt road of the Colle delle Finestre as an opportunity to wage an offensive against him. “I think they’ll attack on Saturday,” he said. “They have two options, but one of them might finish off the podium if they are very aggressive. And depending on how the stage is, I could attack too.”
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