Image 1 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) wins Milano-Torino (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 2 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) wins Milano-Torino (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 3 of 17 Contador on the attack (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 17 Cnotador goes deep on the climb to the finish (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 17 The podium: Diego Ulisi (Lampre-ISD), Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 17 riders from RadioShack-Nissan sign on (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) on the podium (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 8 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) was all smiles after winnnig Milano-Torino (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 9 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) celebrates with his Pistolero salute (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 10 of 17 Contador shows off his jersey (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 11 of 17 Contador attacked hard on the climb to the finish (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 12 of 17 Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 13 of 17 Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) made his comeback after his short ban (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 14 of 17 Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 15 of 17 Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador before the start of the race (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 16 of 17 Liquigas-Cannondale line-up (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 17 of 17 The stand out pink and blue colours of Lampre - ISD (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) won the Milan-Turin race thanks to a powerful acceleration one kilometre from the finish at the summit of the Superga climb overlooking Turin.

The oldest race on the Italian race calendar finished atop the Superga after a first passage and a short final circuit. Contador was unstoppable on the final part of the climb, attacking and winning alone. Italy’s Diego Ulissi (Lampre-ISD) finished second, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team) was third, with Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha Team) fourth.

Saxo Bank worked hard for Contador all race, chasing down the early break by Federico Rocchetti (Utensilnord Named) and Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) and then pulling back a six-rider move after the first climb of the Superga sparked by Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale).

It was Contador's first one-day race victory since he turned professional in 2002. All his other victories have come in stage races.

"This is a great win. My teammates believed I could do it from the start of the race and so I couldn't mess it up. After all the work they did for me at the Vuelta, I still feel indebted to them and wanted to pay them back with another win," Contador said.

“This morning, when I woke up, weighed 2.4kg more than at the Vuelta, I knew there were 190 kilometres of racing and that I hadn't trained yesterday and had only done 40km the day before. But the point was to get to the finish line with some strength in my legs.

“I had to make a full-on effort. Joaquim [Rodriguez] had taken a few metres and I had to work to catch him. I took a few breaths on his wheel and then tried to go. I'm very, very happy to win, especially in Italy."

Contador dedicated his victory to Victor Cabedo –the young Basque rider who was recently killed in an accident while out training.

Ulissi was disappointed that he was unable to go with Contador in the final kilometre of the race but his ride boosted his confidence for Saturday's Il Lombardia.

"I'm sorry I didn’t manage to finish off a good race with the win," he said in a press release from his Lampre-ISD team.

" I raced well, dosing my energy and reading the race carefully. I didn’t have a great moment on the first climb of the Superga but I felt better on the final climb. I followed Kessiakoff and kept him within distance and then got on Rodriguez's wheel. But when Contador went it was game over even though I tried to close the gap. Still, at least I'm confident I'll be in the action at Il Lombardia."

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