Cycling-Contador back in pink with sparkling time trial performance
May 23 (Reuters) - Alberto Contador took a commanding lead in the Giro d'Italia on Saturday with a strong performance in the 14th stage, a 59.4-km individual time trial won by Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus. After losing the pink jersey to Italian Fabio Aru after a crash on Friday, the Spaniard finished third on the day, 14 seconds behind Team Sky's Kiryienka, who clocked a best time of one hour 17 minutes 52 seconds. Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) took second place, 12 seconds off the pace. Tinkoff-Saxo leader Contador, bidding to become the first man to achieve a Giro/Tour de France double since 1998, now leads Aru by 2:28 after the Astana rider finished 29th, more than three minutes behind Kiryienka. Costa Rica's Andrey Amador is third overall, 3:36 adrift of Contador ahead of a mountainous final eight days starting with Sunday's 15th stage, a 165-km trek leading up to Madonna Di Campiglio. Australian Richie Porte, who was considered Contador's main rival before the Giro started, dropped out of contention after losing another four minutes to Contador. (Writing by Julien Pretot in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis)
