Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan picked up yet another stage win in Stage Twelve of the 2011 Vuelta a España.
Sagan, lacking a leadout train, had to hop from wheel to wheel through the last two kilometers, finally finding Leopard Trek’s Daniele Benatti, who was getting a tow from teammate Fabian Cancellara. When Benatti launched, Dagan swept around him and outran HTC’s John Degenkolb to the line.
Stage Twelve, 167 km from Ponteareas to Portevedra, had two cat 3 climbs in the first half, while the entire second half was either completely flat or gently rolling. One of the last sprint stages of the Vuelta, it was certain from the start that no breakaway would be allowed to succeed.
Of course, some riders tried anyway. Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis,) Jose Luis Roldan (Andalucia,) Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto,) and Ruslan Pidgornyy (Vacansoleil) escaped 25 kilometers into the stage. This group survived until the 4-km mark, when a flurry of solo attacks were tried and failed.
The sprinters’ teams started fighting to lead the peloton. Leopard Trek took over the lead first, with BMC contesting; Skil-Shimano and Liquigas moved up but couldn’t take control. HTC-Highroad moved to the front with 1500 meters to go; Leopard Trek pushed them aside briefly, but HTC retook the lead coming under the 1-kilometer banner.
Coming up to the sharp left-hand bend at 500 meters, HTC’s Tony Martin had the lead, with John Degenkolb following; Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi rode Degenkolb’s wheel. Leopard Trek’s Fabian Cancellara pulled Daniele Benatti to the front coming through the corner, with Sagan clinging to Benatti’s wheel.
Cancellara pulled off and Benatti took off for the line, but didn’t have the legs. Sagan swerved around him on the right while Degenkolb squeezed between the two. Sagan was simply too fast for the HTC sprinter and took the stage win, his second of the 2011 Vuelta.
Stage 13 is a grimpeur’s stage, with six categorized climbs: two Cat 3s, two Cat 1s, and two more Cat 3s, the last only 27 km from the finish, which might be the perfect spot for a breakaway to launch.
With the descent and the final flat 15 km, this is not a stage where a GC contender could make up any time; even if a rider dropped out on one of the cat 1 climbs, there would be plenty of time to catch up on the descents.
Likely the contenders will wait for Stage 14, with the Cat 2 Puerto de la Ventana and the Cat 1 Puerto de San Lorenzo, followed by an Hors Categorie mountaintop finish at La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo. This is a stage where GC aspirants will attack; with the top six riders within 36 seconds, expect a lot of action on this final climb.
Sagan, lacking a leadout train, had to hop from wheel to wheel through the last two kilometers, finally finding Leopard Trek’s Daniele Benatti, who was getting a tow from teammate Fabian Cancellara. When Benatti launched, Dagan swept around him and outran HTC’s John Degenkolb to the line.
Stage Twelve, 167 km from Ponteareas to Portevedra, had two cat 3 climbs in the first half, while the entire second half was either completely flat or gently rolling. One of the last sprint stages of the Vuelta, it was certain from the start that no breakaway would be allowed to succeed.
Of course, some riders tried anyway. Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis,) Jose Luis Roldan (Andalucia,) Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto,) and Ruslan Pidgornyy (Vacansoleil) escaped 25 kilometers into the stage. This group survived until the 4-km mark, when a flurry of solo attacks were tried and failed.
The sprinters’ teams started fighting to lead the peloton. Leopard Trek took over the lead first, with BMC contesting; Skil-Shimano and Liquigas moved up but couldn’t take control. HTC-Highroad moved to the front with 1500 meters to go; Leopard Trek pushed them aside briefly, but HTC retook the lead coming under the 1-kilometer banner.
Coming up to the sharp left-hand bend at 500 meters, HTC’s Tony Martin had the lead, with John Degenkolb following; Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi rode Degenkolb’s wheel. Leopard Trek’s Fabian Cancellara pulled Daniele Benatti to the front coming through the corner, with Sagan clinging to Benatti’s wheel.
Cancellara pulled off and Benatti took off for the line, but didn’t have the legs. Sagan swerved around him on the right while Degenkolb squeezed between the two. Sagan was simply too fast for the HTC sprinter and took the stage win, his second of the 2011 Vuelta.
Stage 13 is a grimpeur’s stage, with six categorized climbs: two Cat 3s, two Cat 1s, and two more Cat 3s, the last only 27 km from the finish, which might be the perfect spot for a breakaway to launch.
With the descent and the final flat 15 km, this is not a stage where a GC contender could make up any time; even if a rider dropped out on one of the cat 1 climbs, there would be plenty of time to catch up on the descents.
Likely the contenders will wait for Stage 14, with the Cat 2 Puerto de la Ventana and the Cat 1 Puerto de San Lorenzo, followed by an Hors Categorie mountaintop finish at La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo. This is a stage where GC aspirants will attack; with the top six riders within 36 seconds, expect a lot of action on this final climb.
| 2011 Vuelta a España Stage Twelve |
|
| |||||||
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas | 4:03:01 | 1 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky | 46:53:47 | ||
| 2 | John Degenkolb | HTC-Highroad | 0:00:01 | 2 | Christopher Froome | Sky | 0:00:07 | ||
| 3 | Daniele Bennati | Leopard Trek | 0:00:01 | 3 | Fredrik Kessiakoff | Astana | 0:00:09 | ||
| 4 | Alessandro Petacchi | Lampre | 0:00:01 | 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas | 0:00:10 | ||
| 5 | Juan José Haedo | Saxo Bank | 0:00:01 | 5 | Jakob Fuglsang | Leopard Trek | 0:00:19 | ||
| 6 | Tom Boonen | Quickstep | 0:00:01 | 6 | Bauke Mollema | Rabobank | 0:00:36 | ||
| 7 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC | 0:00:01 | 7 | Maxime Monfort | Leopard Trek | 0:01:06 | ||
| 8 | Paul Martens | Rabobank | 0:00:01 | 8 | Juan Jose Cobo | Geox | 0:01:27 | ||
| 9 | Nikolas Maes | Quickstep | 0:00:01 | 9 | Haimar Zubeldia | RadioShack | 0:01:53 | ||
| 10 | Lloyd Mondory | AG2R | 0:00:01 | 10 | Janez Brajkovic | RadioShack | 0:02:00 | ||
