2012 Giro Stages 4 & 5

May 10, Stage 5: Modena - Fano 199km

Cavendish sprints to Giro d'Italia stage 5 win in Fano

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-5/results)

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) showed that he has put his stage 3 crash behind him when he held off a late challenge from Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) to win stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia into the Adriatic resort of Fano on Thursday.

Set up perfectly by his Sky teammates and led out equally well by Geraint Thomas in the final 500 metres, Cavendish began his sprint from 150 metres out. Orica-GreenEdge's Goss came around Colnago-CSF Inox's Sacha Modolo to push the Briton hard, but Cavendish had a bike length between him and the Australian at the line. Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan) came through to take third place, with Robert Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda) fourth.

The pink jersey will stay on the shoulders of Garmin-Barracuda's Ramunas Navardauskas, who finished safely in the bunch.

Cavendish adds to Giro victory tally

It was Cavendish's ninth stage win at the Giro. It had added personal significance for him as his girlfriend Peta Todd and baby daughter Delilah were waiting at the finish to greet him. The bonus seconds Cavendish gained for his victory pushed him up to fifth overall, and he is now 14 seconds down on race leader Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda), who finished safely in the bunch. Goss also moved up in the standings and now lies fourth overall, 13 seconds down on the Lithuanian.

"I didn't feel good all day with that many anti-inflammatories," said Cavendish. "I was suffering with the heat. It wore me out. I was comfortable on the climb, but I was dead at the finish. I could see Gossy's shadow the whole way, getting closer and closer. I was happy to hang on for the win.

"I'm very happy," he said. "My daughter and my girlfriend came to see me here, so I could not go wrong. It is a wonderful day! This is the first time they have seen me compete, and it is also the first time that Delilah has been with me on the podium. Did you notice that she is dressed in pink? We've now won two stages in this Giro. I would have liked to take another, but I couldn't because of the fall. However, I am feeling better every day, so hopefully others will come."

Goss looked at the positives after finishing second to the rider he used to lead out at HTC. "Today, Cavendish has shown he's the strongest. We made our move at the same moment, and I couldn't get ahead of him. Once he had made his jump, it was always going to be difficult to get on terms with him, but it is an honour to have a team behind me that believes in me."

Asked if he thought he can beat Cavendish, Goss said, "If I didn't think he was beatable, there wouldn't be any sense in me trying to take him on whenever I can."

Action starts from the gun

The 200km stage ran almost dead straight from Modena south-east to Fano. As soon as the flag was waved, Farnese Vini's Pier Paolo de Negri shot away to instigate the break of the day. Alessandro de Marchi (Androni Giocattoli) and Lotto-Belisol duo Olivier Kaisen and Brian Bulgac jumped across to join him in an escape that would last for 170km.
As the leading quartet worked to build up a lead that never went very much beyond six minutes, Garmin-Barracuda in particular ensured that a steady pace was maintained behind them. The American squad upped its pace slightly entering the second half of the stage, gradually eroding the advantage of the four breakaways.

What had been an incident-free stage until the riders were inside the final 50km took on a different complexion as the pace edged up once more as the peloton approached the only categorised climb of the day, with 35km remaining. A moment's inattention by Saxo Bank's Lucas Haedo resulted in him crashing. Former race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC) was also caught up, but was quickly back on his bike. While that was more bad luck for the young American, there was better to follow when he managed to avoid being swiped by the wing mirror of a passing RadioShack-Nissan team car.

The speed in the bunch was extremely fast from the moment the riders crossed the final climb of the day with 35km remaining. At that point, the four leaders still held an advantage of a minute, but it was falling fast. After De Negri had led over the top of the climb, Androni's De Marchi decided to make a move on his own. It was never likely to succeed, and in fact the Italian did well to hold off the bunch until the 20km mark as Liquigas-Cannondale and Astana set a fierce pace on the front of the bunch.

The final run-in

The bunch's speed was enough to drop several likely contenders for the stage win. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) was one of the first to fall back and never regained contact despite a determined pursuit by teammate Jack Bauer. BMC's Thor Hushovd also fell back, as did Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank) and the rider who caused the chaos on stage 3 in Horsens, Roberto Ferrari (Androni).

For almost all of the closing 20km, the bunch was completely lined out as Sky, FDJ-BigMat, Orica-GreenEdge and Liquigas-Cannondale all took a turn at pace-making. On such a straight road, there was little chance of anyone getting and then staying clear, although Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) endeavoured to get away solo with 3.5km remaining. His attack was very short-lived as Sky gathered six riders on the front ahead of Cavendish.

Rigoberto Urán showed his racing legs are returning as he produced a long turn coming towards the final 2km, where Peter Kennaugh, Bernhard Eisel and then Ian Stannard took over. Orica-GreenEdge infiltrated the Sky line coming into the final kilometre, but Thomas managed to power his way to the front and launch Cavendish. For a moment, it looked like the world champion had gone too early as Goss began to close, but the Manxman delivered a final kick to assure his success.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:43:15
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
4	Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox
6	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team
7	Elia Favilli (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
8	Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
9	Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank

 

May 9, Stage 4: Verona (TTT) 32.2km

Garmin-Barracuda storms to victory in Verona team time trial

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-4/results)

Four years ago on the streets of Palermo, the Garmin team announced itself on the world stage with a defining win in the Giro d'Italia team time trial. In the intervening years, the squad has changed - riders leaving, riders joining - but on Wednesday the American team stamped its authority on the team time trial once again, storming to victory with a time of 37:04.

It was enough to put Garmin-Barracuda's Ramunas Navardauskas into pink, with previous race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC) succumbing to his injuries and losing the maglia rosa after an eventful four days of racing.

Katusha finished second, five seconds down, leaving Joaquim Rodriguez with the biggest smile among the overall contenders. The Spaniard put over 20 seconds into his main rivals and sits in the pole position as the race heads towards the first skirmishes in the mountains.

"We thought we could win today, but I wasn't sure if I could hang with these guys," Navardauskas said at the finish.
"They were really strong today. Everybody did a good job. I was so glad to stay with these guys as I tired in the last 10 kilometres. This jersey is a really big thing for me."

"I like this team. They have taken care of me last year and this year and brought me to good races. I did the Tour de France last year, I didn't expect [Jonathan] Vaughters to bring me. This year I'm at the Giro, and it's been a really good start for me up to now, although we'll see how it is tomorrow."

Although Garmin-Barracuda was the favourite heading into the event, it was widely expected that Alex Rasmussen would be the assassin to end Phinney's reign. However when the Dane was surprisingly dropped, Navardauskas quickly moved to centre stage.

Garmin-Barracuda had two aims: the stage win and propelling Ryder Hesejdal into a secure GC spot. Two aims but one method: ride fast. It meant Navardauskas had to hang on for dear life as the Garmin train neared the finished. After starting 18 seconds down in the battle for pink, finishing behind his teammates could have ended his flirtation with pink.

He briefly slipped off the back, the pink jersey momentary heading in another direction. However, the Lithuanian recovered as his teammates eased on one of the final corners, latching onto the slipstream and holding on for the line. It meant that the maglia rosa passed to another promising talent, with Phinney unable to pull of the impossible and keep the jersey for another day.

"I had a bad day personally," Phinney said.

"I don't know if it was the crash the other day or what, but I had nothing today. The team had to wait for me a couple of times, I have to thank them. Fortunately I didn't fall today as well, but from my third pull on the front, I could see that something wasn't right. I'm very disappointed, I don't have a lot to say. I didn't have a lot of power. I gave the maximum, I gave everything I have. I have to thank they team. They could have left me but instead they slowed and waited for me."

When he returns to the team hotel, Phinney can look back at what has been a whirlwind few days. In pink on stage 1, several crashes and a near abandonment, he has lit up a race desperate for international recognition. Heading into the Giro, the primary goal was the finish, and the second year pro must now muster the necessary strength for another two weeks.

His ride today summed up his four-day Giro perfectly. Starting in pink, Phinney rose to the occasion before veering off the road briefly. He finished strongly, taking turns at the front of the BMC train all the way until the line. He'll be hoping he can finish the Giro d'Italia in such fashion.

Advantage Rodriguez

In the battle for the overall, Rodriguez is in the strongest position, a statement one would not have expected to have made at the start of the race and with over 40 kilometres of time trialing covered.

"The team did a spectacular team time trial. We couldn't have gone a second faster. We'll see what Liquigas and Astana do, but we've done our bit," the Katusha leader said.

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Roman Kreuziger (Astana) and Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) all sit in close proximity, while the Lampre duo of Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego are on the back foot. John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale) at 2:43 and Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago - CSF Inox) are the furthest back.

Results

1	Garmin-Barracuda	0:37:04
2	Katusha Team	0:00:05
3	Astana Pro Team	0:00:22
4	Team Saxo Bank
5	Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:00:24
6	Orica-GreenEdge	0:00:25
7	Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:26
8	RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:28
9	Sky Procycling	0:00:30
10	BMC Racing Team	0:00:31

2012 Giro d'Italia Stage 2

May 6, Stage 2: Herning 206km

Cavendish sprints to stage 2 Giro d'Italia victory

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/giro-ditalia/stage-2/results)

Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) won the second stage of the 2012 Giro d'Italia, taking a small group sprint. A crash on the final corner split the peloton, with only the top sprinters coming through to the end. Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) was second, and Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Big Mat) was a surprise third.

Taylor Phinney (BMC) successfully defended his leader's jersey, but had to work hard at the end. He dropped his chain after a crash with 8km to go, and had to make up a 30-second gap to get back to the field.

"I just found myself on the ground, having touched wheels and lost balance," he said. "Then I couldn't get my chain back on. So I kind of made a second prologue effort. I was quite scared there for a second that I was going to lose the jersey."

Teammates Alessandro Ballan and Danilo Wyss brought him back to the field with 4.6km to go.  “I had a lot of adrenaline going," he said.

Cavendish praised his team, as always, starting with Ian Stannard, who “did 150 kilometres alone reeling in the break – he did incredible.”

Going into the finale, “Everybody handled it well and we stayed together as a team. I was really looked after at the finish and kept sheltered. Geraint took me perfect and went exactly when he was supposed to. I was able to come off him and win the stage so I'm very, very happy."

A trio in the break

As expected, a break got away early on this cool day. Alfredo Balloni (Farnese Vini), Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol) and Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) took off and quickly built up a huge lead. The gap topped out at 13:15 with 145km to go.

The field was relaxed on this first road stage of the Giro, and took its time with the chase. Sprinters' teams Rabobank, Orica-GreenEdge and Sky shared the work at the head of the peloton with BMC riding protectively around race leader Phinney.

The stage actually featured a climb, ranked category 4, small but still enough to establish the first king of the mountains. Balloni attacked out of the three-man group, followed by Rubiano, and took the points which would give him the mountains classification jersey at the end of the day.

The gap continued to drop and the peloton crossed over only some five minutes later. With 60km to go, it had dropped all the way to barely two minutes.

Sky was often to be seen at the front of the field, with Cavendish's world championship rainbow stripes in the first row. A crash near the the rear of the field took a handful of riders down, as the gap hovered around the 30-second mark.

Within seconds after crossing under the 40km banner, the field caught the three escapees - rather early, for a mass sprint stage. So, of course, the next attack came almost immediately, from Danish rider Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Belisol).

Bak had built up a gap of 44 seconds with 30km to go, and that was about as high as it got. The peloton was perfectly willing to let him go it alone in the wind, but was careful not to let the gap grow too big and brought it down to around the 30 second mark.

Eventually Bak realized he wouldn't be soloing in to a stage win, and relaxed. Just before the 17km marker, he was absorbed back into the field. Sky stayed at the head of things, with Astana close behind them.

A messy ending

With only 8km to go, Phinney saw his dreams starting to go down the drain. He dropped his chain, and it seemed like it took forever until help came and got it fixed. He was over 30 seconds down and had to push it to the limit to get back to the peloton. Teammate Danilo Wyss dropped back quickly to help pull the maglia rosa back to the main group. Finally, three teammates escorted him into the field and then up to the front again.

Garmin-Barracuda had meanwhile taken charge of the lead work, and the sprinters' teams started lining up with 3.5km to go.

Garmin-Barracuda opened the sprint, with GreenEdge taking over. A crash took out most of the field with about 150m to go and split the field, leaving the sprint to a handful of riders. Cavendish didn't really need the advantage, as he waited for the right timing and pulled through a hole to claim the victory.

The crash happened just after the final curve leading into the finish, when Theo Bos' wheel slipped away. He flew into Katusha's Alexander Kristoff, who was launched into the barrier, but eventually crossed the finish line with blood dripping down his face.

Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:53:12
2	Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
3	Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
4	Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Barracuda
5	Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
6	Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
7	Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team
8	Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan
9	William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
10	Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling

Gent - Wevelgem 2012

Boonen wins Gent-Wevelgem

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/gent-wevelgem-2012/results)

Tom Boonen was on song again at Gent-Wevelgem, showing prime form and fortune ahead of the Tour of Flanders by out-sprinting Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Matti Breschel (Rabobank).

In a somewhat messy sprint marred by a crash from a Saxo Bank rider who took down JJ Rojas (Movistar) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Boonen sped away ahead of the fall and had plenty of power to hold off young Sagan.

"I've found back my sprint. I'm not the fastest man in the peloton – that's probably Mark Cavendish – but if everybody is tired then I'm one of the best. I wasn't fully recovered from Friday's race and I wasn't the best in the race but we decided straight away that we would try to get a sprint. The Kemmelberg is too far from the finish to try something there," Boonen said.

Runner-up Sagan wasted some energy in a breakaway attempt together with Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) at 25km from the finish in Wevelgem but they were caught back by a large group led by the Omega Pharma-QuickStep troops.

After 235km of racing Sagan lacked the punch to finish ahead of Boonen. "After the last climb of the Kemmelberg I was in a breakaway with Cancellara. I felt good but that was already the case in the Tirreno. It's better to try something then to do nothing at all. In the sprint Boonen was stronger," Sagan said.

Just before the breakaway attempt from Sagan there was a demonstration from Matti Breschel on the Kemmelberg. The Dane left the peloton behind on the steep cobbled climb. "I couldn't go any slower," Breschel joked. "I got beaten by two guys who, right now, are better than me. I felt good today but Boonen is the best right now," Breschel stated.

A nine-rider group stayed away much of the race, but the real story was a split in the field with about 35 km to go. World champion Mark Cavendish (Sky) was left behind in a chasing group and tried to bridge the gap on his own, but never saw the front of the race again.

The breakaway started early in the day with seven riders taking the initiative: Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Koen Barbé (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Thomas Bertolini (Farnese Vini – Selle Italia), Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha), Anders Lund (Saxo Bank), Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator) and Kevin Van Melsen (Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s).

Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) and Yuriy Krivtsov (Lampre – ISD) were able to bridge up with these seven to form the nine-man group which colored the first half of the race.

The nine gathered a lead of up to ten minutes while riding towards the North Sea. When turning away from the sea the headwind tortured the breakaway group and when riding through the north of France the gap quickly dropped down to seven minutes.

By the time they reached the foot of the often crucial Kemmelberg, the lead for the breakaway was down to 2:15, and Lund and Insausti attacked the rest of the breakaway group. On the second ascent of the Kemmelberg Rabobank's Breschel put on an impressive show, his powerful surge opening a gap in the peloton.

On the following Monteberg, the last climb of the day, riders including Luca Paolini (Katusha), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Steve Chainel (FDJ) attempted to break away, but when Fabian Cancellara came to the front with Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), the duo quickly caught up with the remains of the early breakaway. With 30 km to go they trailed the two leaders by 1:15 with a following peloton of about 40 riders. Behind, a group including sprinters like Mark Cavendish (Sky), André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) was quickly losing ground.

With 16km to go the breakaway and the two front groups were all together, but the second half of the peloton with Cavendish was still trailing by 45 seconds. The fast men in front were Boonen, Matthew Goss (GreenEdge), Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek), José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar) and Oscar Freire (Katusha).

That gap only grew, and it soon became clear that it could not be closed.  Cavendish did his best to bridge up, but it was not to be.

The pace stayed high as the group went into the finale. Oscar Freire of Katusha opened the sprint, but Boonen is on a roll and proved once again to have the fastest legs.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	5:32:44
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
3	Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
4	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
6	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan
7	Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
8	Steve Chainel (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
9	Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
10	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team

Go Sparticus!!!

Cancellara on Strade Bianche triumph: I always ride to win

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-on-strade-bianche-triumph-i-always-ride-to-win)

Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) got his team’s season off the mark with a memorable win in Strade Bianche on Saturday but admitted that he’s still short of his best form as he takes aim on another spring classics campaign.

The Swiss rider was arguably the strongest rider during last season’s spring classics but missed out on a big win. He was also roundly beaten by rival Tony Martin in the majority of their time trial battles but his Strade Bianche performance has laid down a marker for the Classics and Cancelllara believes that his form is moving in a positive direction.

“I always ride to win,” he said in his winner’s press conference.

“Last year maybe I was missing a little bit but you can’t do anything about it. I gave it 100 percent in training and even this winter I said I’d gave 100 percent and even if I don’t win races I’ll be satisfied. If you make mistakes you can’t be happy but today it all went perfect and thanks to work of the team and especially Daniele Bennati I won.”

Cancellara will use Tirreno-Adriatico to fine tune his form ahead of Milan San-Remo but an ominous omen for his rivals lies in the fact that his previous triumph in Strade Bianche came the same year as his win in la classica di Primavera, back in 2008.

“I hadn’t raced since Oman and today felt there was something missing: the race rhythm. I don’t know where my form is at the moment. It’s not 100 percent. I’m on the way to improving. That’s important. It’s important to stay relaxed.”

Cancellara added that his win today was as due to his own mental fortitude and strength as much as his pure talent. Having lost his uncle just a few days ago, he used the grief to spur him on in.

“A lot of things came to mind during the race: winning, but also about the sacrifices we have to make. I also thought about my uncle, who I lost a few days ago. I won thanks more to my mental strength than my physical strength,” he said.

“Life is short, even if I’m still young. You learn more about life and how short it is when you lose people. You understand that you have to be happy with your life and with things like family and find quality in your life. That’s the most important thing. Today I managed to transform my pain into something positive.”

Sneak Peak at Sunday's Road Race

Thor Hushovd thinks stacked field will make it hard in Copenhagen

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thor-hushovd-thinks-stacked-field-will-make-it-hard-in-copenhagen)

Current World Champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) has said that although the course in Copenhagen may suit him, the field is among the most open he can recall and that it will be very hard for his team to control the race on Sunday.

"There is some really strong opposition racing, I think it’s going to be hard," said Hushovd to L’Avenir.net. "I think with guys like Peter Sagan, Philippe Gilbert, Oscar Freire, Mark Cavendish, there are plenty of potential winners.

"Bennati has one of the strongest teams in the race, and I would suggest the Germa-s have a very solid team led by Andre Greipel.

"Meanwhile for Norway we only have four riders! With so many quality teams we’re just going to have to rely on the work of others."

The Norwegian was reportedly on strong antibiotics while racing in the Tour of Britain, however he now feels that he is fully recovered. Hushovd added that he was pleased with his build up after the Tour de France.

"I believe I'm well rested after a successful Tour de France," he said. "The stage victory in the Tour of Britain confirms that the form is there, and now all that waits is the racing on Sunday."

The men’s road race takes place on Sunday September 25.

RadioShack-Nissan-Trek...That's a mouthful!

I'm glad the Vuelta is over and that things have finally calmed down at work. Now I have time to blog about articles that I find interesting, instead of just posting the Grand Tour results.

I think the biggest news to have hit during the Vuelta was that of the Radioshack/Leopard-Trek merger. I'm wondering if this is going to become the new "super" cycling team?

Bruyneel and Becca speak out on new team

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bruyneel-and-becca-speak-out-on-new-team)

Johan Bruyneel is looking forward to helping Andy Schleck win the Tour de France. The Belgian said that will be one of his main goals at RadioShack-Nissan-Trek in the coming season, while admitting that the team is having some growing pains at the moment.

It was announced earlier this week that RadioShack and Leopard Trek will join forces to ride as one team next season.

He  “very much looks forward” to working not only with current RadioShack riders but also with current Leopard riders, including Fabian Cancellara, Fränk Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Maxime Monfort and Daniele Bennati, Bruyneel wrote on his website.

The biggest challenge, however, would seem to be Andy Schleck, “obviously one of the most talented riders in cycling and it is my goal to help him achieve the goal of winning the Tour de France. As with every rider, there are always improvements to be made and I think with these adjustments and the team we will put together, Andy will have his best chance yet of standing on the top step in Paris.”

The final details of the structure of the new team are still being worked out, and Bruyneel acknowledged that “the information (sometimes not completely accurate) finds its way into the press, which has caused us to announce this new venture a bit earlier than we originally planned.” The final team roster will be announced by September 15.

UCI apparently not informed

The International Cycling Union issued a stiffly-worded announcement Wednesday evening concerning the new 2012 team, and indicated that it had not been informed beforehand of the changes. The UCI said that it “is aware of the information published in the media concerning the project”, and added that “the UCI has also learned from the same sources of the intention of the CSE Pro Cycling LLC – financial managers of the American team RadioShack – to give up the UCI WorldTour licence that it had been granted for the 2010-2013 period.

"The UCI is currently evaluating the information received and is not available to comment further at this time.”

Leopard sponsor questions deal

The UCI was not the only one who appeared to have been taken by surprise. One of Leopard Trek's sponsors is Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg, which was taken aback by the arrival of its rival Nissan as new sponsor.

In a statement issued this week, the auto company said that it was surprised to see the Leopard press release which said that RadioShack and Nissan would be two top sponsors of the team as of 2012. Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg notes that it has "a valid contract with Leopard SA through the end of 2013. The consequence of the latest decision by Leopard SA must now be discussed by the contract partners."

Flavio Becca, the financier behind the team, saw the situation differently. “We have a contract with Mercedes which can be cancelled at any time under various circumstances,” he told Wort.lu. “We will be equipped by Nissan as of 2012. I want to thank Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg and also Enovo [a further sponsor -ed.]. They believed in us and I think we gave them a lot of visibility.”

Personnel comings and goings

RadioShack had 30 riders this season, and Leopard has 25. The new team may have no more than 30, so it is obvious that changes will be made. Several riders have already announced new teams for the coming season, but others fear for their jobs.

Becca made it clear that the new team would consist largely of current Leopard riders. He indicated that of the 25 riders now on the team, the five whose contracts expire the end of the year would leave. “That reduces the number of our riders to 20. If you do the maths, you can see that we can take on 10 new riders.”

Those five riders are Jens Voigt, Martin Pedersen, Bruno Pires, Thomas Rohregger and Stuart O'Grady. The latter has already announced that he will ride for the new GreenEdge team next year.

Two of the RadioShack riders who will be with the team next year are Markel Irizar and Haimar Zubeldia. Irizar last Saturday signed a new two-year contract with Bruyneel, telling biciciclismo.com, “I'm in, but you have to remember the people who stay outside and that the current situation is not good for cycling.”

Zubeldia echoed those sentiments, saying “We're in but is a pity that some are left out.”

Becca has said that Sports Director Kim Andersen is welcome to stay on with the team, with Andersen telling the Danish newspapers Ekstra Bladet, “I assume that I will continue.”

He added, “it is clear that things are changing and when everything is in place, I will consider whether I am interested in being part of the set-up that comes out of it.” He said that he particularly would like to continue to work with the Schlecks and Fuglsang.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 21

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-21/results)

Peter Sagan's Vuelta a España debut got even better as the Liquigas-Cannondale rider made it three stage wins in this year's edition by beating Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati in the final stage through Madrid this afternoon.

The 21-year-old Slovakian sprung from nowhere in the finale and cheekily swept under the drag race between Petacchi and Bennati to take another stage win in his first grand tour and indicate that he'll be a man to watch at the UCI Road World Championships later this month in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"It's been a great day. I was riding at the front and I took the wheel of Bennati but I got boxed in a bit, so I had to stop my effort and had to re-start from behind. It was hard, but I was still fresh because my team protected me from the wind during the whole stage.

"I was only focused on winning today. It was a technical course, exactly what I like and I was feeling very well," Sagan said.

While he took three stage victories, Sagan said he was frustrated at the botched sprint on stage 16 when a wrong turn at a roundabout ruined his chance to gain points toward the green jersey. He ended up fourth in that classification, just 22 points off Bauke Mollema's winning margin.

"I'm satisfied anyway. This experience of three weeks will help me for the future," Sagan said, downplaying his hopes for winning the world championship in Copenhagen at the end of the month.

"I prefer not to think of the coming world championship. It's difficult to plan. Luck is needed. Team work is an important factor and we'll have a team of three Slovakians. I believe the Velits brothers will be on my side. I'm not bothered about the future. I'm happy with how I go. At the beginning of this season, I didn't think that I could win all these races."

'The Bison' charges into Madrid

The man upon which all eyes focused as the peloton swept into Madrid was Juan José Cobo however, the unexpected leader and champion elect of the Vuelta a España enjoying the limelight with a little fanfare and plenty of satisfaction.

That's because it's been a long and arduous journey for Cobo, the man who was considered one of Spain's best prospects for stage race victory just three years ago when he finished second to Leonardo Piepoli on the Hautacam stage of the Tour de France while riding for the now-defunct Saunier Duval squad (he was later awarded the stage when Piepoli tested positive for CERA).

Since then he's been embroiled in controversy surrounding that team, fallen into obscurity and even considered retirement several months ago; on Sunday afternoon that was the last thing on his mind.

"I've passed through some bad moments the past few months, but now I see things differently. You realise that hard work and sacrifice are worth it – this win makes up for the suffering that I've gone through on the bike," Cobo said, admitting that he's suffered from depression for a year and a half.

He came into the race with no pressure, there presumably to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov, and he admitted that he wasn't doing well in the first week of the race. "I've suffered a lot up the Sierra Nevada. I didn't have the legs. I didn't have the race rhythm and I was lucky the head wind neutralized the race uphill."

"On that day, I was far from imagining that I'd be the eventual winner of the Vuelta. After that, it's been with no worries."

After terrific performances in stage 14 and 15 to La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo and Anglirú, respectively, Cobo defended the red jersey with gusto until the final day, which took riders into the heart of Madrid. He celebrated with that leader's jersey, where 12 months earlier Vincenzo Nibali had stood, the latest champion of the Vuelta a España.

"I knew that I was in a good shape since the Tour of Burgos at the beginning of August and I've had two weeks after that to improve my condition," Cobo said. "But I came to the Vuelta to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov and three weeks later, I'm here to talk about winning the Tour of Spain, it's unbelievable!

Following his win on the Anglirú, Cobo told reporters "The objective was to take time on Wiggins and things turned out better than expected. We will defend to the death, but when you're in the lead, things are easier."

And so it was, his Geox-TMC teammates often riding at the front of the race to shut down any potential threats to Cobo's lead and the 30-year-old himself did everything he could – successfully – to prevent Team Sky's Chris Froome usurping his advantage on the stage to Peña Cabarga.

By race's end, his margin of victory was just 13 seconds over Chris Froome, with the Brit's Team Sky stablemate Bradley Wiggins in third, 1:39 behind Cobo. Bauke Mollema recorded his best grand tour result with fourth and Cobo's teammate Denis Menchov took fifth.

Double podium presence for Sky

Despite several attempts to gain back his missing 13 seconds in the past few days, Froome and his teammate Wiggins remained in second and third, respectively, giving Great Britain and Team Sky an excellent Grand Tour performance.

Wiggins came in as the team's top contender, but it was Froome who was able to challenge Cobo. Ultimately he fell shy, but Froome captured the hearts of two nations - Kenya, where he grew up, and Great Britain, where he holds his racing license.

"Three weeks ago, I couldn't envisage such a result and I believe it's the beginning of great stuff," Froome said. "For the first time I got the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour in the best conditions and I took my chance.

Wiggins, who crashed out of the Tour de France and eyed the Vuelta as his chance for redemption, couldn't hide his disappointment.

"The Vuelta isn't the Tour, you have to win the Vuelta," Wiggins said. "I put pressure on myself during three weeks. I saw myself as the winner. I truly believed that I was going to win, that's why I'm not satisfied.

"I'm speaking negatively but there's some positive as well. Nine weeks ago, I broke my collarbone and I would have laughed if anyone told me that I was going to finish third of the Vuelta after that. I've also learned more on how to ride a Grand Tour. At the end of 2010, some people thought that I had come fourth at the 2009 Tour de France by coincidence, now I've made those people understand that it was not the case."

Making their way to Madrid

At only 94km, the final stage of this year's Vuelta was a procession, to say the least, and after a tough three weeks the Spanish capital was a sight for sore eyes within the peloton.

Having made the ceremonial entrance into the city it was time to get on with some racing, and subsequently various groups tried their luck getting away from the bunch until a selection of just three was made with about 58km remaining.

The trio consisted of Joan Horrach (Katusha), Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Jose Alberto Benitez (Andalucia Caja Granada), although a solid group of pursuers had assembled behind, with a thundering peloton – led by the vigilant men of Geox-TMC – keeping a close eye on the leaders.

Facing the final 50km of this year's race, the break had itself 32 seconds over the peloton and it looked unlikely that the plucky trio was ever going to get much more than that. Ten clicks later and that proved to be the case as the gap sat at 51 seconds, the main field keeping the escapees on a short leash.

With 26km left in the 63rd Vuelta a España, the break led by 50 seconds, a sprint finish never in doubt as the likes of Lampre-ISD, Leopard Trek and Saxo Bank-Sungard ensured that the gap wouldn't stretch too far and they could set up their fast men for a dash to the line.

And with just 11km remaining it was Horrach who held out the last piece of resistance, having left Caruso and Benitez behind the local lad was content to carry on until the peloton deemed his time out front over and set up the final sprint to the line.

That time would come some nine kilometres from home, the pace lifting dramatically thanks to the work of Lampre-ISD and Leopard Trek, the squads of Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati toiling to try and take one last win from the Vuelta.

Aiding in their cause was Saxo Bank-Sungard, with Juan José Haedo waiting in the wings for another crack at glory; it wasn't much match for Stuart O'Grady and Leopard Trek's effort, which was gargantuan in the final three kilometres.

As the sprint opened Sagan still hadn't shown his figure and as Petacchi and Bennati went to the left, the Slovakian sprung into the middle of the road, accelerating impressively to grab another win, much to the disappointment of the experienced Italian duo.

Little noticed in the mix just behind was Mollema, who was helped to ninth on the stage by his Rabobank teammates and therefore took the green points jersey from Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha.

David Moncoutie (Cofidis) strolled in two minutes after the stage winner, his polka dot climber's jersey wrapped up the day before.

With now three Grand Tour champions in its midst, the Geox-TMC squad earned the title of best team, with race winner Cobo also netting the win in the combination classification. The performance of the Spanish underdogs will go a long way toward helping the team climb up the UCI's overall rankings for the 2012 WorldTour selection.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 20

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-20/results)

Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati has been a frustrated sprinter at this year’s Vuelta a España but victory beckoned in Vitoria on stage 20 on Saturday afternoon and he ensured he wouldn’t leave the race empty handed with an impressive win in the Basque city.

The Italian prevailed in a long sprint over Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished second and third respectively, with Garmin-Cervélo rider Sep Vanmarcke fourth and Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort fifth.

Bennati recognised how hard today’s stage was for a sprinter aiming for victory and thanked his teammates for their efforts throughout the day, particularly in the final 50km. “Today is the penultimate stage; there’s been a lot of climbing in this stage for a sprinter… But for me it’s a win for the team,” Bennati said immediately after the stage.

The man who won two stages and the points classification at the 2007 edition of the Vuelta did it the hard way, spending much of the day in the 26-man break that formed before dropping back into the protective custody of his Leopard-Trek squad that controlled proceedings in the finale to ensure Bennati claimed a win in this year’s race.

Despite Chris Froome’s calls for an attacking day to chase the general classification lead, the red jersey remained on the shoulders of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) at day’s end, the Vuelta champion elect well protected by his teammates to ensure the Spanish squad would go into tomorrow’s stage with little with which to concern themselves except a celebration.

There had been a 13-second margin between the two heading into the penultimate day, which prompted the Team Sky rider’s claim that he could make something of the day’s offerings but in reality it was going to prove a mountain too high against a Cobo in top condition and extremely motivated to take the biggest victory of his career on home turf.

Last chance hotel

It may have boasted a flat finish but the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta still had its fair share of climbing – a brace of first category ascents in addition to a category two and three climb, which offered something for the men desperate to take their shot at a stage win late in the event.

This was reflected in the number of noted climbers getting themselves into the day’s break, which detached itself from the peloton early in the stage, as the overall heavyweights looked to conserve ahead of what promised to be an interesting finale.

With Froome and Cobo separated by the aforementioned 13 seconds, there was the possibility of fireworks near the finish, although 26 men were keen to try their luck the hard way – in the break – before that point.

Those men were: Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), AG2R La Mondiale pair Nicolas Roche and Lloyd Mondory, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia Caja Granada), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Inaki Isasi Flores and Amets Txurruka.

Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) was trying his luck in the move again, along with Katusha trio Vladimir Karpets, Eduard Vorganov and Luca Paolini; Lampre - ISD was represented by Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi and Manuele Mori while Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati was in the mix, as was Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar), Jan Bakelants and Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Also present were Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo and Steven Kruijswijk, Saxo Bank-Sungard had Jaroslaw Marycz and Nick Nuyens while Koen de Kort was representing Skil – Shimano and Christophe Le Mevel flew Garmin-Cervélo’s flag.

After 99km of racing the 20-man move had itself a lead of 4:10 but unsurprisingly with 70km until the finish that had dropped to 1:27. That mark dipped below a minute with 55km remaining as it became obvious the peloton was preparing to stretch its legs on the final climb of the day, the category one Puerto de Urkiola.

That was down to 36 seconds, with 52km remaining, and as expected the break was on its knees on the opening slopes of the Urkiola. It was Barredo’s cue to go solo from the leading group, hitting out ahead of his fellow escapees, who were being swamped by the peloton.

The Spaniard had 53 seconds on the peloton with 48km to go to the finish, battling slopes that touched 15 percent in sections and putting in a brave showing on the final categorised climb of this year’s Vuelta. He added 22 seconds to his lead over the peloton during the following kilometres in a sign that he was motivated to throw everything at the stage win.

Carlos runs into flat finale fun

Having crested the Urkiola, Barredo set about consolidating his lead on the descent and subsequent flat run to Vitoria with a slender lead of 36 seconds over the remnants of the break, with the peloton a further minute behind. Trailing him by 43 seconds with 40km remaining was a seven-man group of chasers that included teammate Kruijswijk, plus Kiserlovski, Le Mevel, Roche, Caruso and Txurruka.

Undeterred, Barredo continued his run to the line and with 35km until the finish he still had 27 seconds on the chasing group – not a heavy buffer but a lead he would fight gallantly to protect as Vitoria – and victory – beckoned. That advantage sat at 33 seconds with 31 clicks remaining but the peloton, led by Leopard Trek, had moved to within 20 seconds of the chasers.

The proximity of the peloton to the chasers caused some consternation in the group and before long the septet was caught, the dream over with exactly 30km before the finish. It wasn’t a good sign for Barredo’s chances of staying away but with about half a minute separating him from the main field, the likes of Leopard Trek and Team Sky called a temporary halt in hostilities to prepare for the hectic finale.

It was a case of marking time for the sprinters’ teams leading into the final 20km of the stage as Barredo continued his doomed run to Vitoria, which would come to an end with 15km remaining when he was caught by a solo Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC), but not before Froome and Cobo had shaped up to battle the final intermediate sprint in pursuit of precious bonus seconds, which ended in a no-contest.

Their die cast, it was time for Sastre and Barredo to work together and with 10km remaining they had 31 seconds over the peloton. That was reduced by just one second a kilometre later and had hit 23 seconds with eight clicks until the finish. At that point Barredo put up the white flag and left Sastre to his own devices out front, with a feisty field bearing down on the lone Spaniard.

His bolt shot, Sastre’s resistance ended with just under three kilometres remaining, which was time for Leopard Trek to go back to work for Bennati; coming into the final kilometer, the plan seemed to be working to perfection and with the Italian’s overwhelming strength in the finale he was able to open a long sprint and hold on to take a sought-after stage win.

Result
1	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek	4:39:20
2	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
3	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
6	Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD
7	Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
8	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

CG Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	82:38:32
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:39
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:03
5	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:48
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:04:13
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:04:31
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:45
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:05:20
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:05:33

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 16

http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-16/results
Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-Sungard) took victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España in bizarre circumstances ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) and Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek). while Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) retained the red jersey.

As Bennati's Leopard Trek squad strung out the peloton in the closing kilometres, it looked as though a long, hot day in the saddle was going to end as scripted with a straightforward bunch sprint in the streets of Haro. Although a plethora of sprinters have already left the race, Petacchi, Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) were among the riders lined up behind Bennati and his lead-out man Robert Wagner approaching the final bend, and the stage seemed set for a grandstand finish.

Instead, it turned out to be something of a damp squib; when Wagner swung off the front on a roundabout with 300 metres to go, he took a wrong turning, veering off to the right instead of following the race route on the left.

"Unfortunately due to tiredness and the chaotic nature of a finish, Robbie [Robert Wagner] followed the motorbike right around the roundabout instead of heading left towards the finish," Leopard Trek directeur sportif Luca Guercilena explained. "Daniele had to brake too much. He wasn't able to go straight to the line."

While Bennati hesitated momentarily before choosing the right path, the well-placed Sagan started to follow Wagner but then locked up the brakes as he recognized his mistake and fell out of contention. Sensing the confusion, Haedo cleverly launched his sprint early, and emerged from the roundabout with a healthy advantage over Bennati and Petacchi.

The Argentinian even had time to sit up and savour his first Grand Tour triumph in the final 50 metres, and Petacchi's impressive final effort ultimately proved to be in vain. A disappointed Bennati recovered to come home in third, just ahead of Vicente Reynes (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad).

"It crowns my career so far, absolutely! I’ve won stages at other important races like the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tirreno-Adriatico or the Tour of Catalunya, but this one is the most beautiful of them all," Haedo said afterwards. "This success is a gift for the sixteen days of suffering I've experienced. I’ve done the right thing staying in the race…"

While there was considerable consternation among the sprinting fraternity about the confused final kilometre, Saxo Bank directeur sportif Brad McGee was adamant that Haedo would have won regardless of Wagner's wrong turn.

"He was ready, was in the perfect position in the finale and he was better tactically and physically in the technically demanding sprint where some riders took the wrong turn in the last roundabout," McGee said. "But it would have made no difference. JJ (Haedo) was simply better than everyone today and we hope he can repeat this win on Sunday in Madrid."

Froome's move checked by Cobo

The finish-line intrigue was not confined just to the sprinters, as Juan José Cobo and Team Sky brought their battle for overall supremacy from the vertiginous slopes of the Angliru to the plains of La Rioja.

Barely 10km from the finish, Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Caja Granada), the final survivor of the day's breakaway, was engulfed by the peloton on the cusp of the second intermediate sprint. With seconds at a premium in the fight for the red jersey, Froome sensed his opportunity and moved towards the front of the bunch.

Although he was thwarted in his hunt for the full six bonus seconds by the quick thinking of Cobo's teammate David De La Fuente, Froome did manage to pick up the two seconds on offer for third place behind Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo).

By the time the stage was done, however, Froome's hypothetical advantage would be wiped out. The Briton and his teammate Bradley Wiggins were caught behind when the peloton split on the high-speed run-in to the finishing line, and Froome handed back his short-lived two second gain to Cobo before it even registered with the time keepers.

While the gap was minimal, there is no underestimating the impact that Cobo's tenth-place finish will have on his morale. With the race poised on a knife edge and with a series of tight stages to come in the Basque Country, every gain, temporal or psychological, is to be treasured in a tense final week to the Vuelta.

Rodriguez crash

For a stage that culminated in such dramatic fashion, its beginnings were altogether more banal. Barely a kilometre after the flag was dropped, Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) jumped clear with Andalucia-Caja Granada pair Jesus Rosendo and Antonio Cabello, and a weary-legged peloton duly left them to it.

The trio built up a lead of 8:30 after just 40km, but when the sprinters' teams stirred from their slumber shortly after the midway point, their gap began to fall softly. With 30km to go, Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) thundered to the front of the bunch, in what is set to be his final appearance of this year's Vuelta – the Swiss rider announced before the stage that he will leave the race this evening to fine-tune his preparation for the world championships.

Perhaps sensing that Cancellara had a plane to catch, Rosendo opted to leave his breakaway companions behind and try his luck alone shortly afterwards. Although he put up solid resistance to the chasing pack, he knew that his time off the front was limited, and he was duly snaffled up on the run-in to the final intermediate sprint.

As the pace picked up in the main field, a crash removed a number of riders from contention, with the worst affected riders being Rafal Majka (Saxo Bank-Sungard) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha). Although Rodriguez was able to ride gingerly to the finish in the company of a loyal platoon of Katusha teammates, the Spaniard had conceded 5:30 by the finish, and said that he would decide on his continued participation on Wednesday morning.

Rodriguez, so dominant in the opening week of the race, has endured a rather more difficult spell since. The home favourite before the Vuelta, Rodriguez's crash was overshadowed on the day by the dramatic incident in the final kilometre, while in overall terms, Spanish hopes were already pinned to Juan José Cobo.

	Result
1	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard	4:41:56
2	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
3	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek
4	Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
5	Leigh Howard (Aus) HTC-Highroad	0:00:02
6	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
7	Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
8	Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
10	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC

GC Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	64:39:14
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:22
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:51
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:41
5	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:02:40
6	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:06
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:03:08
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:03:49
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:03
10	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:04:18

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 12

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-12/results)

After winning from a small group in Córdoba, Peter Sagan showed the range of his talent when he led the bunch into Pontevedra. Showing consummate skill as he jumped from wheel to wheel in the final two kilometres, the Liquigas-Cannondale puncheur came into the final straight on the wheel of Leopard Trek's Daniele Bennati, who was being led-out by Fabian Cancellara.

When Cancellara moved aside and Bennati launched his sprint, Sagan surged out on the Italian's left and never looked likely to be caught on the drag up to the line. HTC-Highroad's John Degenkolb pushed him hardest, the German finishing a bike length down on the Slovak, with Bennati fading back in third.

"We looked at the route in the team meeting this morning and thought it would be a good chance for me. I'm delighted to have won the stage and want to say thanks to my teammates for setting me up for it," said Sagan. "There was a great deal of confusion coming into the finish. But I was fortunate in getting on to Bennati's wheel, which put me in a good position."

The high speed, tight bends and gently rising run-in to the finish strung the bunch out to the extent that there were a number of splits. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) and Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) were the two riders to gain among the overall contenders. They finished five seconds ahead of a group containing race leader Bradley Wiggins and his Sky teammate Chris Froome, as well as defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Wiggins, though, remains in the leader's red jersey, but with the four riders behind him now packed in even tighter than ever. Froome is still seven seconds down in second place, Kessiakoff leapfrogged Nibali into third at nine seconds, with the Italian now fourth at 10 seconds. Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) stays in fifth place at 19 seconds, with Mollema now only 36 seconds down in sixth having won the first intermediate sprint of the day that earned him six bonus seconds and edged another five closer to the riders above him at the finish.

Nibali said he was not concerned by the time gained by Kessiakoff and Mollema. "I lost a few seconds because I got onto Marcel Kittel's wheel, and he ended up braking. But I'm not too worried as I didn't lose much time."

The Liquigas-Cannondale leader added that he will waiting to see what his rivals do before making any attacks on the three mountain stages that kick off with tomorrow's tough run into Ponferrada. "The big differences will occur on the Angliru [on Sunday]… I've been told that it's a climb very much like the Zoncolan. This year in the Giro I had a good day there and if my form is the same I will do well there."

Four form the break of the day

The move north into the province of Galicia brought a welcome reduction in the temperature as the riders set off on what was likely to be one of the very few stages left where the sprinters could shine. The early flurries came to nothing, allowing Mollema to pick up a very handy six seconds at that first intermediate sprint with just 7km covered. Another 7km down the road, Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), José Luis Roldán (Andalucia-Caja Granada) and Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis) broke clear. As they pressed on, Vacansoleil-DCM's Ruslan Pydgornyy jumped across to them.

As this quartet went to work, the speed in the peloton eased for a while, allowing the break to build up a lead of more than nine minutes as they climbed the third-category Alto de Moscoso with 50km covered. Pydgornyy led over the summit. After the peloton had crossed this climb, Leopard Trek, Sky and Skil-Shimano combined to reduce the break's advantage. Initially the peloton nibbled at the lead, but when Pydgornyy led over the third-category Alto Ponte Caldeas his group were less than five minutes clear.

That advantage continued to drop steadily. Soon after the riders had passed through impressively big crowds in Pontevedra for the first time with 100km covered, HTC-Highroad added their weight to the chase, helping to reduce the break's advantage to little more than two minutes with 35km remaining.

The sprinters gather their forces

As the gap continued to close, former HTC rider Hansen took off from his three companions, but only gained a handful of seconds on them before he was chased down and dropped, leaving Pydgornyy, Roldán and Maté at the front. Back in the bunch, Garmin-Cervelo, Skil-Shimano and Lampre-ISD were all contributing to the chase in the hope of setting up Heinrich Haussler, Marcel Kittel and Alessandro Petacchi, respectively.

Sensing that the bunch would soon be upon them, Maté, who admitted later that he knew the terrain of the stage well and thought that a break might succeed, made a final attempt to get clear with 13km remaining. That saw off Roldán, but Pydgornyy got back up to the Cofidis rider and the pair continued to work together until they were finally overhauled with 6km remaining.

As they were swept up, Maté's teammate Julien Fouchard countered and briefly got a gap. Vacansoleil-DCM's Santo Anza soon zipped past the Frenchman and managed to hold off the Leopard Trek-led bunch for a kilometre, but the sprinters weren't to be denied.

HTC-Highroad took over from Leopard Trek for a couple of kilometres, then Bennati's men took over on the front once more approaching the final-kilometre kite. Bennati, though, looked to be struggling to hold Cancellara's wheel as the course weaved through Pontevedra. The world time trial champion seemed to misjudge the final left-hand bend slightly, losing a bit of momentum, but then went full throttle up the rise to the line, before peeling over with 250 metres remaining. Bennati drove on, but had no answer to Sagan's impressive acceleration.

1	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale	4:03:01
2	John Degenkolb (Ger) HTC-Highroad	0:00:01
3	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek
4	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
5	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard
6	Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
7	Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
8	Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
9	Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
10	Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

GC Overall

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	46:53:47
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
3	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:09
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:10
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:19
6	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:36
7	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:01:06
8	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:01:27
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:01:53
10	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack	0:02:00