Vuelta a Espana 2013 - Stage 12
La Vuelta continued today, with what was advertised as a flat 164.2 kilometre run from Maella to Tarragona. It was billed as a day for the sprinters, but in reality it had quite rolling terrain, and its route position between two blocks of mountain stages meant it could be ideal breakaway territory. A break did indeed go away early on in the day, consisting of three men. Romain Zingle of Cofidis was joined by Fabrizio Ferrari of Caja Rural, and Cedric Pineau of FDJ.
Despite gaining a maximum lead of over five minutes, they never really looked like threatening to stay away. Zingle led over the only climb of the day - the Alto del Collet, but it was uncontested, and had no effect on Chris Horner's lead in the competition.
Around 50 kilometres from the finish, Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) had a nasty crash, and was seen laid in a doorway holding his right arm and side. Although looking as if he may have to abandon the Spanish race, he was able to continue. It had been a different day for Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ) however, and news filtered through in the stage that he had climbed off and gone home. Also non-starters this morning were Marco Pinotti (BMC), who pulled out with a sinus infection in order to prepare for the world championships, and Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) who climbed off after a crash yesterday.
The breakaway did sweep up the points and bonuses at the first intermediate sprint, but a combination of teams worked together to ensure they were back in time for the second. At the second sprint, it was Ivan Basso of Cannondale who jumped out of the peloton that gained the three second time bonus, with Nicolas Roche of Saxo-Tinkoff close behind to grab a couple of seconds. Cameron Wurf, Basso's teammate swept up the last bonus.
Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) put in an attack close to the finish, but only gained a maximum of nine seconds before Orica-GreenEDGE and BMC Racing in particular put in an effort to bring him back. The three kilometre rule that means riders who are held up by a crash or a mechanical problem within the last three kilometres are awarded the same time as the stage winner had been extended to five kilometres, because of the day's tricky, technical finish. This proved lucky for Domenico Pozzovivo, who punctured with around 4 kilometres to go.
The bunch was all together as it headed for a bunch sprint, and it was Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) who opened the sprint in earnest. It looked as if the powerful Norwegian was going to take the stage, but it was Philippe Gilbert (BMC) in the rainbow stripes of world champion who jumped out of his wheel right before the line, to take the win. There were no real changes in the general classification, apart from Ivan Basso gaining three seconds, and Nicolas Roche two.
Another great day on the Vuelta, roll on the mountains!