Meyer Impressive in Time Trial Giro Finale
WAIS cyclist Cameron Meyer produced a brilliant ride for a seventh place finish in the final time-trial stage of the 2011 Giro d’Italia.
Meyer – who was competing in his third Italian grand tour – showed again why he is considered a specialist in the TT discipline with a smooth and clinical display, to complete what has been a gruelling and at times treacherous tour.
The stage victory went to Meyer’s Garmin-Cervelo teammate David Millar, whilst reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador sealed overall victory, with a third place time-trial finish.
Although Contador didn’t add to his tally of stage victories on the race’s final day, his performance encapsulated the unnerving ease with which he has governed this year’s corsa rosa. The Spaniard roared out of the start house to post the quickest time at the first intermediate check, but then once the pink jersey was emphatically secured, he relented over the remainder of the course to come home 36 seconds down on Millar.
By the time he reached the finish amid the grandeur of Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, Contador had long since forgotten about trying to win the stage and he was careful to take time to savour his overall victory as he cruised to the line. Underneath the race’s final Arrivo banner, he even sat up and delivered the trademark pistol celebration, the final shot of a Giro resoundingly dominated, albeit against a background in which the ruminations of the ongoing Clenbuterol saga were never quite drowned out.
“This piazza is fantastic, it was a dream finale for the Giro,” an emotional Contador said on crossing the line. “I didn’t win this race alone, the whole team did.”
It is hard to gauge how close the rampant Contador could have come to Millar’s time had he not taken such a conservative approach to cornering once he entered the more intricate section of the course in the streets of Milan. That said, Millar was just ahead of Contador at the last time check, and the Scot hurtled around the course at an average speed of 51.627kph to take the win.
The hard luck story of the day belonged to second-placed Alex Rasmussen (HTC-Highroad), who was among the earliest starters. His last intermediate time check remained unbeaten for the whole afternoon, but unfortunately for the Dane, the time that counts is the one taken at the finish line.
Inside the final kilometre, he suffered a most untimely puncture and the time he lost in negotiating the closing section on a flat tyre would ultimately prove costly, and he lost out to Millar by seven scant seconds.
– With Cyclingnews.com