In Other Astana Domination News

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Alberto Contador wins Portugal's Volta au Algarve stage race on the strength of his stage 4 time trial.

Astana's Alberto Contador started his season out with a victory by winning Portugal's Volta ao Algarve stage race on Sunday.

Contador finished in the pack — in 96th place — on the 166km stage from Vila do Obispo to Portimao. Contador finished in the same time as stage winner Henrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam).

Contador had taken the overall lead on the strength of his second place in the stage 3 mountain top finish and then his commanding win in stage 4's 34km time trial.

"This year, the Tour is without doubt my priority, but I don't want to discard the Giro or the Vuelta," said Contador.

"By coming to the Algarve the objective was to stay in form with other targets in mind like the Paris-Nice. But I knew that I was capable of winning the race. I couldn't have done any better.

"It was a very good race. I did right in coming here. We had a lot of luck with the weather which is fundamentally important."

Contador's next race will be Paris-Nice, March 8-15. He won that race in 2007, the same season he won his first Tour de France.

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