Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) capitalized on a stunningly powerful leadout from Rui Oliveira to sweep past Alpecin-Deceuninck for a convincing sprint victory on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España. The Colombian sprinter was well back with just a few hundred meters to go when Oliveira gave him a rocket-ship ride to the front, and Molano capitalized with an unbeatable turn of speed as double stage winner Kaden Groves wasn't able to respond until too late.
- Alpecin did much of the work on the day, including pacemaking to control the gap to the two-rider breakaway of Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA's Abel Balderstone. On a stage most expected to end in a sprint, the pair had a long, lonely day and never got more than a few minutes advantage on the pack, and were caught comfortably before the late intermediate sprint, won handily by Groves.
- In the final kilometers, Alpecin looked firmly in control. While teams like EF Education-EasyPost and Lidl-Trek tried to assert themselves, a line of blue Alpecin jerseys just hammered away inexorably, Groves tucked in safely behind. But in the final few hundred meters, the leadout appeared to disintegrate in confusion as Oliveira took Molano to the front. Groves was briefly stuck in traffic and – either through hesitation or a shifting issue – was unable to grab Molano's wheel. A late turn of speed salvaged second place for the green jersey wearer, but Molano showed the entire field a clean set of wheels. Oliveira's leadout was good enough to hold on for fourth.
- Speaking of intermediate sprints, Jumbo-Visma's Primož Roglič took second place behind Groves, picking up four bonus seconds as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) didn't make a serious try for it. Roglič's teammate Sepp Kuss had an uneventful day to stay in the race lead, and aside from a six-rider crash with around 100 km to race, no one had any major difficulty (Alan Jousseaume of TotalEnergies was caught in the crash and looks to be worst off, finishing alone 9:32 behind the field).
Brief analysis
- Groves is clearly one of the fastest sprinters at the Vuelta, but twice now he's been unable to convert a strong leadout into a win. It's not entirely his fault; in both cases (stage 7 and today), the team's organization fell apart in the final 500 meters. But sprinting is inherently improvisational, and twice now, Groves missed the crucial moment when the winner (Geoffrey Soupe on stage 7, Molano today) made his move. Sprints are desperately hard and the gap from first to fifth can sometimes be found in a few milliseconds of action, so read this as the lightest of criticisms. But it's worth keeping an eye on whether Groves can get back that killer-instinct decisiveness he showed on stage 4.
- While Jumbo is the most-stacked GC team at the Vuelta, UAE isn't far behind with riders in second, sixth, and eighth overall. That makes it unusual that they're focusing energies on sprints as well with Molano, but it paid off big-time today. The conventional wisdom is that splitting efforts between GC and sprint stages dilutes a team's focus and energies, but there's something to be said for the strategy; when it works out with a stage win, that can help relieve pressure to perform and boost morale. Jumbo (via Kuss and Roglič) and Evenepoel already have stage wins, and with the GC increasingly looking like a three-way battle between Jumbo, UAE, and Evenepoel, that UAE now also has one certainly doesn't hurt their prospects.
- On paper, today's stage looked like a sprinters vs. breakaway special, but it ended up being no contest. Unlike yesterday where it took 50 km to establish the break and 26 riders joined in, today the pack let Bol and Balderstone go clear in the opening kilometers and no one seemed interested in going along. It's pretty clear that Friday's Tourmalet stage is foremost in the minds of many. It's a huge GC day, with hard climbs on a short course that will be ridden full gas, so even teams and riders who don't have specific objectives will have to put in effort to avoid the time cut. The result: today was never going to be anything but a sprint.
Stats of the day
Much has been made of Kuss starting all three Grand Tours this year (and five in a row dating back to the 2022 Tour de France). But what's that mean in real terms? Kuss has 68 race days so far this year and has done 10,760 race kilometers. Because of his GT focus, the vast majority of that (80%) has come in those races: as of today, he's done 8,651 km in Grand Tours this year alone. Provided Kuss finishes in Madrid, he'll clock just over 10,000 race kilometers in Grand Tours this season.
Up next: stage 13
It's heeeere! Arguably the 2023 Vuelta's queen stage is upon us: a 134.7 km ride from Formigal.Huesca la Magia to the Col du Tourmalet. Three huge climbs – the hors categorie Col d'Aubisque, first category Col de Spandelles, and the finish on the Tourmalet – with over 4,200 meters of elevation gain. It's going to be an absolutely massive, pivotal day in the race. By the finish, we'll have a much better idea of all kinds of things: is "GC Kuss" reality? What's the pecking order at Jumbo, especially between Roglič and Kuss? Can UAE match Jumbo's depth? And is Evenepoel closing in on a level of form where he's not shipping handfuls of seconds to the others on summit finishes? Riders to watch: Roglič's aggressiveness today suggests he's not resigned to supporting Kuss and still has his own ambitions. Juan Ayuso is currently third of UAE's three GC contenders and this is a perfect stage for him to upend that hierarchy; Grand Tour debutant Cian Uitjdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) was aggressive on stage 11 and is likely looking to move up the standings and hunt for a stage win.
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