Swiss rider outsprints a big breakaway group; Team Sky rides the punches as the top ten comes under pressure; Nibali edges closer
Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) took his first ever victory in a Grand Tour on stage thirteen of the Vuelta a Espana, outsprinting a Twenty-man breakaway at the end of 158.2km across the Galician mountains. The Swiss rider was one of the most aggressive riders of the final few kilometres, as the members of the large group began to attack one another, and was one of the first to open up his sprint at the finish as it all came together again.
Albasini launched his sprint, in response to Angel Madrazo (Movistar) and managed to hold off Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale) all the way to the line, with Daniel Moreno (Katusha) taking third.
"We've been trying really hard to get stage wins here," said Albasini at the finish, "and we'll be hunting for wins all the way to the end of the season.
"It was a difficult day," he explained. "There was one first category climb that was very tough, but I got over that okay and then I felt very confident for the sprint. I made sure that I controlled all the different attacks because I knew I was one of the fastest guys there."
The breakaway group changed in personnel over the course of the stage, and at first featured race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and fourth place, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale). Nibali took the first intermediate sprint, and six bonus seconds, before the two of them rejoined the peloton.
While there were no members of the top ten present in the lead Moreno, Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale), Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quick Step) and Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were all within reach of the top ten. A late chase from RadioShack, Astana and Liquigas-Cannondale meant that the break’s advantage at the finish was restricted to 1’33” though.
There was a worry for Wiggins on the descent of the biggest climb of the day, the 1st category Puerto de Ancares, when Nibali’s descending skills pulled a group containing third place Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana), fifth place Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) and sixth place Bauke Mollema (Rabobank). Team Sky calmly pulled them back before long though, and the British champion’s jersey was safe again for another day.
Nibali’s time bonus lifted the Italian to second place overall, just four seconds behind Wiggins, while Moreno lifted himself into ninth.
A short mountain stage with a flat run to the finish
With the first category Alto de Folgueiras de Aigas and Puerto de Ancares, as well as the 3rd category Alto O'Pico Da Peña, Alto de O Lago and Puerto de Lumeras, the thirteenth stage between Sarria and Ponferrada was to be tough, despite being just 158.2km long.
The stage seemed made for a breakaway but, with 60km between the top of the Ancares, the second of the first category climbs, and the finish line, there was not expected to be too much activity at the top of the overall classification.
One rider who was hopeful of being part of what was probably an inevitable breakway group was former eponymous French champion Dimitri Champion (AG2R La Mondiale).
“I have the number 13, today is stage 13,” he said hopefully at the start. “I became French champion with number 13. Today must be my day!”
A big group gets clear and the red jersey battle gets tighter
Champion was initially correct as he was a member of an large group that got away over the Alto O'Pico Da Peña. Also included were Wiggins and Nibali and, following the descent the Italian took first place over the line at the intermediate sprint in Becerrea. Having lost four seconds – and his third place overall – to Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) the day before, six seconds bonus lifted the Italian into second overall, now just four seconds behind Wiggins.
The group was swept up after the Alto de O Lago, mostly due to the efforts of the Astana team, but many of the same riders escaped on the long descent towards the base of the Alto de Folgueiras de Aigas.
The 28-man group managed to open up a lead of more than three minutes over the top of the first category climb. As they passed through the feedzone, after 81km, it was up to 3’08”, which had dropped a little to 2’40” at the base of the Alto de Ancares.
Over the top of the climb, with some riders dropped from the leading group, there were twenty riders present, consisting of: Albasini, Capecchi, Moreno and Alberto Losada (Katusha), Sørensen, Roche, Seeldraeyers and Marc de Maar (both Quick Step), Nieve, Gorka Verdugo and Amets Txurruka (all Euskaltel-Euskadi), David De La Fuente, David Blanco and Carlos Sastre (all Geox-TMC), Oliver Zaugg (Leopard Trek), David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Madrazo and David Lopez (both Movistar), and Jan Bakelants and Olivier Kaisen (both Omega Pharma-Lotto).
Mountains leader Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) had been part of the move, taking points on the two third category hills, but three-time jersey winner Moncoutié was still there and was profiting over the top of the two big mountain passes.
Moreno the best overall, in 16th 3’39” down, but Roche, Seeldraeyers and Nieve were also threats to the top ten if it were to stay away.
Wiggins comes under attack but Team Sky rides the punches
Close to the top of the Ancares, with the group leading the Team Sky-led peloton by 2’50”, Sergio Pardilla (Andalucia-Caja Granada) attacked with Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale). They had little chance of catching the breakaway before the summit, with Txurruka now driving the pace up front, but managed to get 43 seconds clear with a little more than a kilometre to climb.
As the peloton hit the steepest part of the climb Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) tried to jump clear. He was initially followed by Juan Manuel Garate and Mollema (both Rabobank) and Nibali, but Wiggins himself pulled the peloton up to them once more.
The British champion could do nothing to stop Nibali from getting away on the first steep, technical kilometres of the descent though. The Sicilian brought his famous descending skills to bear, pulling Kessiakoff, Fuglsang and Mollema across to Pardilla and Bonnafond.
The Nibali group managed to pull 24 seconds clear of the peloton but, as the descent levelled out on the approach to the foot of the Alto de Lumeras, Team Sky steadily pulled them back again.
Over the top of the 3rd category climb, the twenty riders led by 2’49”; the peloton was now being led by the RadioShack team, in the shape of Sergio Paulinho, and Leopard Trek, with Thomas Rohregger. Both had been in the original break, but were now coming to Sky’s aid to protect the position of their team leaders at the bottom end of the top ten.
With Moreno up the road ahead the ninth and tenth places of Haimar Zubeldia and Janez Brajkovic (both RadioShack) were in danger, as was the seventh place of Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek).
Everybody seems to be chasing but the break refuses to give up
As the race approached the final intermediate sprint, which sat atop the unclassified climb of the Puerto de Ocero, the Liquigas-Cannondale and Astana teams moved forward to help the chase. This gave Capecchi the right to stop working up front, but the majority of the work was being done by the Euskaltel-Euskadi trio to secure as much time as possible for Nieve.
As the line approached, Roche jumped first but Seeldraeyers, then Moreno came around to take the points and the time bonuses.
There was now a concerted chase from Leopard Trek, Astana and RadioShack but on the fast, gently downhill roads, they made little progress on the hard working group, still led by the three Euskaltel-Euskadi riders.
At the ten kilometres to go banner, the twenty riders were 1’57” ahead and, with a totally flat run to the finish the stage would be taken by one of them. Certain members of the group began to look at one another as they passed under the 7km banner. There was no drop in pace though as Euskaltel-Euskadi was still trying to secure time for Nieve, and they were still 1’45” clear.
The attacks begin as the finish approaches
The first to attack was Zaugg, just before he reached the five kilometre banner. The Swiss rider was dragged back just before the four kilometre banner though, with De Maar doing most of the work.
With 3.5km to go Madrazo made his own move, and was followed by Albasini; the two of them were chased down by Moncoutié and De Maar at 2.5km to go, and the Curacao champion went straight over the top.
In the chase group behind Bakelants crashed on a roundabout as he misjudged a traffic island on the exit, but thankfully he was close to the back and brought no one else down.
Lopez was next to go and Albasini was the one to mark it again, then Moncoutié tried his own luck, but the HTC-Highroad rider was with him immediately and the rest caught up as they passed under the flamme rouge, with one kilometre to go. Sørensen tried to get away as the group entered the slightly winding finish area, but Albasini was there again and it was all together once more.
Madrazo started his sprint first, but then Albasini went and got ahead straight away. Capecchi, who’d done no work since his team started working in the chase behind tried to get on terms with the Swiss rider, but he was able to win by a clear length.
As the peloton entered the final kilometre Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) jumped off the front to steal a few seconds; the Dutchman crossed the line 1’29” back, with the peloton crossing at 1’33”.
The gap back to the peloton, as well as a total of 14 bonus seconds for the intermediate sprint and third place at the finish, moved Moreno up to ninth overall and is now just 1’52” behind Wiggins. Sørensen rose to 13th place, while Roche jumped to 14th, Seeldraeyers lifted himself to 16th, and Nieve was now up to 20th.
Nibali initially appeared to have been handed a twenty-second time penalty, since the original rankings listed the Italian in fifth place, 24 seconds down. This was quickly changed though, and he now threatens Wiggins red jersey. Just four seconds separate the two and a big battle is brewing in the mountains ahead.