Alberto Contador (Astana) successfully defended his maglia rosa on the last mountain stage of this year's Giro. In what was a brilliant display of tactics by Johan Bruyneel and Sean Yates in the team car, Astana was able to manipulate the outcome of the stage so that Contador could have an arm chair ride to the finish.

Two massive climbs including the Passo Gavia and the Mortirolo weren't enough for public enemy number one, Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval - Scott), to take 4 seconds from Contador. Although the fireworks didn't start on the Gavia, the climb still lived up to expectations as it was still littered with snow at the top and, coupled with the unexpected rain, it was almost 1988 again. In it's first genius move, Astana was able to insert Antonio Colom into a break on the Gavia effectively giving them the edge over the other contenders. This then forced Danilo Di Luca's team (Team LPR Brakes) and Gilberto Simoni's team (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni)) to chase on the descent and in the valley so that Colom wouldn't have such a huge advantage over the Mortirolo. If he went over the climb ahead, Contador would have a teammate ready to help if he was in trouble. This is what the other teams did not want to happen.

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Thanks to those two teams, Contador and two teammates (Levi Leipheimer and Vladimir Gusev) started their arm chair ride to the finish. As the final legendary climb of the Mortirolo started, it was clear that Di Luca didn't have it. Today, he was going to pay for his extraordinary efforts of yesterday. He was distanced as the accelerations began. Mountains leader Emanuele Sella (CSF Group Navigare), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Simoni and others all had a go but no one could get away. Riccò was dead set on not letting anyone go away because he probably thought the time bonuses at the end would be his only chance of stealing the leader's jersey away for a day. And just behind Riccò was Contador, looking ever so confident compared to yesterday. As the leaders crested the climb together behind Colom, Di Luca was slowly losing his 3rd place on GC.

Although both Leipheimer and Gusev couldn't keep up with the pace, Contador's group was able to catch up to Colom and so the next great tactical decision by Astana started. Because Di Luca was in trouble, there were people in the lead group interested in moving up on GC. This then forced all of them, not Astana and Contador, to ride at the front. It wasn't up to Astana anymore. The arm chair ride continued as they approached the final climb of the Giro, the Aprica, a climb done on the big chain ring.

Sella immediately attacked the bunch and Astana could not have asked for anything better. This then forced the other riders to pull even harder because Sella was threatening their positions. You can easily imagine a slight snicker on Contador's face as he waived his rivals forward, including Riccò, symbolizing he was not going to ride at the front. This was genius!

Then the icing on the cake happened when Simoni attacked to try and catch Sella which then prompted Joaquin Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne) to accelerate. This placed 3 riders up ahead, soaking up the time bonuses Riccò so desperately needed. So at the end, Sella won his third stage effectively closing the case for this year's race. The Giro is over!

On a side note, Sella's team CSF Group Navigare, placed 3 riders in the top 12 today perhaps showing Riccò who really is the boss after his childish criticisms of them yesterday. Riccò did not make any friends in the peloton in this year's race and it was evident in this stage. He's still young, hopefully he'll learn not to open his mouth too wide. It just may come back to haunt him in the future. What happened to Di Luca? Well, he lost all of his gains from yesterday and then some. He came in some 4 minutes behind the Contador group pushing him from 3rd to 7th overall. Maybe if he would have saved some of the energy used to go back and forth between the peloton and his team car in the earlier parts of this race, he would have been there. It also proves that riders with class will always beat the cocky ones. Contador understands this. He doesn't waste energy, he doesn't talk trash, he just rides. Considering he's had only limited amounts of preparation for this race, many will not argue that he may be the best rider in the peloton today. Eat this ASO!

Tomorrow's time trial should easily see Contador hold on to his jersey but 2nd through 6th places are still up for grabs. Stay tuned!

Top 10 Results for Stage 20
1 Emanuele Sella (Ita) CSF Group Navigare....................................6.52.45
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni..........................1.04
3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne......................................1.22
4 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott.....................................1.30
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
6 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
7 Fortunato Baliani (Ita) CSF Group Navigare
8 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre
9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas

See the complete results here.