At first glance, the profile of last night’s stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana could be misconstrued as being just that of another undulating stage.
Flattish…flattish…still flattish…BOOM – a deceptively difficult category three summit finish on Mirador de Ezaro (Ezaro Lookout).
After almost 190km without a significant climb, the road kicked up nastily for possibly the steepest finish at this year’s race. A unique course to say the least.
The 1.9km uphill dash to the line had an average gradient of 14%, with sections of up to 30%. For the uninitiated, that’s awfully close to “get off and walk” steep.
Apparently that is just how race leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) likes it.
Resplendent in red, Rodriguez blew away Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) in emphatic fashion to claim his second stage win this Vuelta.
Prompted by Alejandro Valverde’s Movistar teammates, the speed of the main field cranked up in the final 15km as teams battled for position ahead of the final climb.
With the day’s main breakaway reeled in, Rodriguez and Contador played a game cat and mouse at the head of affairs. Valverde fought tooth and nail to regain contact, but fell short.
The two Spaniards appeared evenly matched until Rodriguez launched with 400m to ride. Contador had no answer – a rare sight.
Back down the road, riders were coming to a near standstill left, right and centre after a long day in the saddle.
The race speed was high from the outset, with Rabobank setting the early pace in the interests of their three men in the top ten. Combine this with strong headwinds and you have an escape artist’s worst nightmare.
Several moves of varying sizes tried their luck at getting off the front, but were unable to make it stick. Finally, after nearly 80km of racing, one did.
Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE) was the Australian hopeful in the break, which had built advantage of over seven minutes by the 110km mark.
After the break was caught, Meyer soldiered on to finish in the top 30.
Sadly, the stage was marred by a crash involving French national champion Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Big Mat) and Spaniard Xabier Zandio (Sky Pro Cycling).
Bouhanni fell heavily on his hip, but rode off soon afterwards. Zandio suffered severe facial injuries and was forced to abandon after bravely trying to re-mount his bike.
Zandio is a valuable domestique for Team Sky in the mountains and Chris Froome is sure to miss him in this last week of the Vuelta.
Tomorrow, riders travel 173km from Santiago de Compostela to Ferrol and the stage should end in a bunch sprint.
You would be brave to bet against green jersey holder John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) taking his fifth stage victory at Vuelta 2012.
Vuelta a Espana Stage 10 Results
1. RODRIGUEZ Joaquim, KATUSHA 04h 24′ 32″
2. CONTADOR Alberto, SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK + 00′ 08″
3. VALVERDE Alejandro, MOVISTAR + 00′ 13″
4. GESINK Robert, RABOBANK + 00′ 20″
5. FROOME Christopher, SKY PRO CYCLING + 00′ 23″
6. MORENO Daniel, KATUSHA + 00′ 23″
7. ANTON Igor, EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI + 00′ 27″
8. ROCHE Nicolas, AG2R LA MONDIALE + 00′ 31″
9. PRZEMYSLAW Niemiec, LAMPRE-ISD + 00′ 33″
10. VERDUGO Gorka, EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI + 00′ 36″
Vuelta a Espana Overall Standings
1. RODRIGUEZ Joaquim, KATUSHA, 40h 26′ 15″
2. CONTADOR Alberto, SAXOBANK-TINKOFF BANK + 00′ 13″
3. FROOME Christopher, SKY PRO CYCLING + 00′ 51″
4. VALVERDE Alejandro, MOVISTAR + 01′ 20″
5. GESINK Robert, RABOBANK + 02′ 59″
6. MORENO Daniel, KATUSHA + 03′ 29″
7. ROCHE Nicolas, AG2R LA MONDIALE + 04′ 22″
8. TALANSKY Andrew, GARMIN-SHARP, + 05′ 17″
9. TEN DAM Laurens, RABOBANK + 05′ 18″
10. MOLLEMA Bauke, RABOBANK + 06′ 01″
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