Contador wins Castilla and Leon time trials
Out-of-contention Contador avoids more unleaky breaks to win timetrial
Alberto Contador made up for a week of unlucky breaks in the Vuelta de Castilla and Leon by winning Saturday's time trial.
The Tour de France champion completed the 11.2-kilometre (7-mile) course in 13 minutes, 42 seconds to edge Saxo Bank-SunGuard teammate Richie Porte by one second and new overall leader Xavier Tondo of Movistar by two seconds.
Contador, a three-time winner looking to defend his title, endured a pair of tire punctures in two of the first three legs, including near the close of Friday's mountain top finish, to drop out of contention.
"Of course I'm not happy because my place in the overall standings today would have been different if nothing had happened to me ... but that's cycling," Contador said. "It's better that this happens at the Vuelta de Castilla and Leon than at the Giro [d'Italia]."
Overnight leader Bauke Mollema of Rabobank was 15 seconds slower than Contador for fourth to lose his overall lead to Tondo. The Spanish cyclist is nine seconds ahead of Dutch rival Mollema with an overall time of 13:31.40 going into Sunday's last stage.
Igor Anton of Euskaltel-Euskadi trails Tondo by 17 seconds in third.