Flat stage goes to type as long break is reeled in by the sprinters’ teams in the finale
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) sprinted to his second stage of this year’s Vuelta a España, winning stage twelve between Ponteareas and Pontevedra as the fast men were given the rare opportunity to shine in this year’s race. The Slovakian champion was able to take advantage of the lead outs of the other teams, lurking on the wheel of Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) before launching his own sprint.
John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad) also managed to come around the Italian sprinter to take second place, with Bennati hanging on to take third.
“There was some confusion in the bunch with three kilometres to go,” said Sagan after the finish. “One and half kilometre before the line, I wasn’t well positioned. I was a bit behind and I rode back up the front by myself.
“I managed to get onto Fabian Cancellara’s wheel when he accelerated for Bennati,” he added. “At the end of the day, I’ve made the right choice, I think.”
Although he easily took the lead as he moved out from the shelter of Bennati’s wheel, the Slovakian got a bit of a fright as he led his rivals to the line.
“As I opened the sprint, I hit a speed bump with 100 metres to go”, he explained. “I hadn’t seen it. I lost my pedalling rhythm and my chain went down. I was already on a big gear, so I kept pushing hard and by doing so, I didn’t realise that Degenkolb was trying to pass me.”
The uphill sprint to the finish caused a small split in the peloton, with Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) and Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) finishing ahead of it. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) lost four seconds to the front riders, and his third place overall to Kessiakoff; the rest of the peloton, including race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) lost five.
Predictably, the sprint was only to happen once a four-man breakaway, consisting up of Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis), Jose Luis Roldan (Andalucia-Caja Granada), Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Ruslan Pidgornyy (Vacansoleil-DCM), was pulled back in the final ten kilometres.
A rare chance for the sprinters but not without complications
The 167.3km between Ponteareas and Pontevedra was one of the few stages of the race that the sprinters could call their own. The parcours was not entirely flat, and would take in two 3rd category climbs of the Alto de Moscoso and the Alto Ponte Caldeas. The second of these was to come with almost 80km still to ride however, and with only a few small bumps in the rest of the course, the stage looked almost certain to be decided in a bunch sprint.
Situated in the south western corner of Galicia though, right on the Atlantic coast and close to the border with Portugal, a large section of the course was to follow the Atlantic coast road. The potential was there for a powerful team to split the peloton should it be exposed to crosswinds.
The final complication was to be provided by a small rise inside the final kilometre, with the finishing straight on a gradual rise. Any sprinters who had left their legs behind on the previous mountain stages might find this too much to take.
Most of the sprinters, and their teams took the start with confidence however, although Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale), who had correctly predicted the winner of a number of stages so far, was hedging his bets on the start line.
“My compatriot Daniele Bennati would have some reasons to keep the race all together,” he said. “He’s the favourite for today, with my team-mate Peter Sagan. It might be a bit too hard for Marcel Kittel. Heinrich Haussler is another man to watch.”
Rabobank delays the breakaway so Mollema can steal a few seconds
A group of six tried to escape almost immediately, but were quickly reeled back in by Rabobank and RadioShack. The reason for the Dutch team’s efforts became obvious as it launched Bauke Mollema over the early intermediate sprint line after just 7.2km. The six-second bonus earned by the Dutchman edged him a little closer to the red jersey that he had held after stage nine.
A group of thirteen tried and failed to escape, then Mate, Roldan and Hansen managed to get clear after 14km. The three were quickly joined by Pidgornyy and were very quickly able to open up a substantial lead.
As if complying with the terms of a pre-race contract, the Cofidis and Andalucia-Caja Granada teams were out in front of the race once more. Roldan was the only breakaway debutant in the quartet though; with the others having been in at least one long move each during the race so far.
With the peloton led by Wiggins’ Sky team, with the Skil-Shimano team of sprinter Marcel Kittel, the four leaders were 9’08” clear as they hit the base of the Moscoso after 48km. This seemed to be the point where the sprinters’ teams would take action though, as it was reduced to 8’30” by the time they reached the top of the climb, after 55km.
With Leopard Trek coming to the aid of Skil-Shimano, on behalf of Daniele Bennati, the gap was down to 7’20” after 59km, and it kept on falling as the race hit the stage’s hilly mid section. Less than 30km later the gap was down to 4’04” as Pidgornyy led the quartet over the top of the Ponte Caldeas; there was still almost half the stage remaining though, and the peloton eased off the chase a little as the race descended towards the coast.
Despite the exposed coast road, no team took it upon itself to try to split the field in any potential crosswinds. The gap continued to reduce, but more slowly than before until, as the course turned inland once more into the final 50km, it was down to 2’30”.
Hansen attacks the break but gets dropped himself as the others respond
As the gap came down towards two minutes with 40km to go Hansen attacked and the Australian, his jersey showing the dirt of an early crash, managed to distance the other three. After a few kilometres he led by seven seconds, with the peloton at 2’10”, but had given himself too much to do with so much distance to cover to the finish.
Garmin-Cervélo had now move up to lead the peloton for its sprinter Heinrich Haussler, and was working alongside Skil-Shimano.
Hansen was still just ahead of the three chasers as he crossed the intermediate sprint line in Cambados with 29.3km to go, but they had him in sight, and caught him shortly afterwards; Mate accelerated and the Australian was dropped.
Now there were three in the lead, with Hansen drifting steadily backwards, and with 25km to go they still had a chance of survival with a lead of 2’10”.
The sprinters in the peloton were not about to allow the break to take the stage though, and HTC-Highroad was now chasing on behalf of Degenkolb. As the leaders entered the final, rolling 20km they had just 1’30”, but were still working well together.
Hansen was now completely out of contention and was shortly picked up by the speeding peloton.
As the peloton reached the 15km banner, now less than a minute behind the leaders, US champion Matthew Busche (RadioShack) found himself forced down the wrong side of the advertising banners at the side of the road. The 26-year-old was forced to stop and rather sheepishly climb over the fabric fence to rejoin the tarmac.
The break becomes two but has no chance against the powerful teams
With 14km to go, on a short drag, Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-ISD), Martin Velits (HTC-Highroad) and Alan Marangoni (Liquigas-Cannondale) found themselves detached from the front of the peloton as they chased hard. It didn’t seem to be a deliberate attack though, as all three were working for their respective sprinters, and they drifted back to resume their positions on the front.
Up ahead Mata attacked his two companions on another rise, Pidgornyy was able to follow the Cofidis rider, but Roldan was now dropped and the break was down to two.
As the peloton crested the final rise of the day with 11km to go, Garmin-Cervélo took over the front of the peloton just as Skil-Shimano was pacing Marcel Kittel back up. The German was to quit the race at the end of the stage due to fatigue, and was clearly feeling the rolling parcours more than most.
Into the final ten kilometres the duo up front had just 16 seconds; AG2R La Mondiale joined the chase on behalf of Lloyd Mondory, and with eight kilometres to go Mate and Pidgornyy were in sight, just eight seconds ahead.
Shortly before the six kilometre to go banner the two of them shook hands as they were caught, and there was an immediate counter move from Julien Fouchard (Cofidis). The Frenchman managed to get a few metres clear, before Santo Anza (Vacansoleil-DCM) attacked over the top and with five kilometres to go he was just a few metres ahead of the peloton.
Stuart O’Grady (Leopard Trek) allowed the Italian to stew in front for a few moments before leading the Luxembourg team past him.
BMC Racing moved forward into the final four kilometres to set the pace for Greg Van Avermaet, but Skil-Shimano moving forward in force. The Dutch team was trying to take control under the two kilometre banner but it was HTC-Highroad, then Leopard Trek, that led towards the final kilometre.
The final rise to the finish takes many by surprise
HTC-Highroad’s Tony Martin led with Degenkolb, but as they hit the slope up to the finishing straight, Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) swept past with Bennati locked onto his back wheel. The Leopard Trek duo led around the final corner with virtually all of the rest of the sprinters jostling for position behind them.
Visibly missing though, was Kittel, for whom the final climb was just one too many.
Bennati launched his sprint as Cancellara pulled over, but Sagan jumped around him almost immediately. Once the Slovakian champion was up to speed, none of the others was able to get close to getting on terms. Degenkolb managed to follow Sagan around Bennati, and was able to keep his front wheel ahead of the Italian’s. Sagan was already celebrating his second stage of the race though, following his first on stage six to Cordoba.
With the finishing straight rising right to the line, there was a split in the peloton as riders lost contact with those in front. Kessiakoff and Mollema were in front of it, in 11th and 13th positions, but Nibali in 16th lost four seconds, with all of the other contenders losing five.
With the top of the overall classification so tight, Kessiakoff jump to third place, ahead of Nibali, while Mollema – although he remained in sixth place – took eleven seconds out of Wiggins on one of the flattest stages of the race.