While many predicted a certain Norwegian winner from Sky for this race, few would have put their money on Lars Petter Nordhaug over Edvald Boasson Hagen. But that was how it finished as the Grand Prix series in Canada came to a close. Nordhaug made a late attack and caught the peloton off-guard, surging in front of his fellow escapees as it seemed he was fading away. This was the biggest win of the 28-year old’s career, with Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) second and Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) third.
Cyril Gautier (Europcar) took the best climber’s prize after getting into the day’s long breakaway, whilst it was unsurprisingly Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) who was the highest placed Canadian rider, finishing 23rd, 11 seconds in front of his nearest challenger David Veilleux (Europcar).
The early breakaway
Gautier was a key figure in the early breakaway (image courtesy of Europcar)
Along with Gautier in the early break were Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) in the day’s early escape, while Kristjan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Simone Ponzi (Astana) floated behind the three leaders in an unsuccessful attempt to bridge across. While Gautier will have been rather pleased with his day’s efforts, the others were left frustrated as the gap was steadily closed down until it was all back together with just 20km to go.
The lead group only achieved an advantage of four minutes, and they weren’t helped when Boaro was dropped, leaving the two leaders resigned to being inevitably swallowed up by a peloton which was continuously full of impatient riders wanting to attack themselves, with Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) opening up a lead of around 20 seconds before being caught with the leaders.
Even strong riders like Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Marcus Burghardt (BMC) all looked interested in trying to break away, before deciding better of it or being closed down by those who deemed it too dangerous to allow such riders to escape.
Dangerous escapees
The greatest danger came when a seven-man break formed a small gap, with Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Andriy Grivko (Astana), Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol), Anthony Geslin (FDJ-BigMat) and Sebastien Minard (AG2R La Mondiale) forming the escape. Voeckler attempted to bridge the gap, but the pacemaking being done by BMC meant that the move didn’t stick.
David Tanner (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) tried a solo move as it all came back together with 11km remaining, but despite opening up a handful of seconds on the bunch, holding off such a marauding peloton was a nigh-on impossible task. Veilleux also tried a move before Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) laid their cards on the table, but Sky did an excellent job of dragging the select 25-man group back up to the front for their man Boasson Hagen.
The winning move
Nordhaug – a surprising but deserving winner (image courtesy of Sky)
With 5km to go Nordhaug made an unexpected attack, forcing Moser and Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) to go with him. All of a sudden the three leaders became four, as Kolobnev made a stinging attack to surge in front of the leaders and open up a gap with 500 metres to go. But the Russian faded, seemingly handing Moser the win, as Nordhaug ran out of steam.
But, having left it to the dying moments, the Norwegian snuck by the Italian to take the victory by two seconds. Gerrans, the winner in Quebec on Friday, led the peloton home in fourth place, just ahead of Boasson Hagen. Last year’s winner Rui Costa (Movistar) was a further second behind in eighth.
Closing thoughts
For the third year running Canada provided the WorldTour with some of its most exciting racing of the season. There’s no doubt these races have been a superb addition to the calendar, and are always ones to look forward to. The parcours guarantees there is always an aggressive, chaotic finish and, as shown in this race, there’s usually an unpredictable winner.
In terms of the racing, it was interesting to see Kolobnev look so strong here. The Russian was a favourite to take the rainbow stripes a couple of years ago, but has faded from the cycling consciousness since his incorrect positive test in last year’s Tour de France. I wonder if he’s been quietly targeting the World Championships this season, as he could fancy the hilly course.
3,360 – In kilometres, this year’s total race distance.
175 – Number of finishers, out of 198 starters.
84:59:49 – Total race time for overall winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), equivalent to an average speed of 39.5kph. (Although in reality it’s slightly slower in ‘real’ time if you discount time bonuses.)
Contador celebrates winning stage 17, which set up his overall victory (image courtesy of Roz Jones)
3 – Spanish riders occupied all three steps on the final podium – Contador, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) – the first time this has happened since 2004 (Roberto Heras, Santi Perez and Francisco Mancebo).
7 – Number of Spanish riders in the final top 11 on GC.
4 – Only four riders wore the leader’s red jersey during the race: Movistar’s Jonathan Castroviejo and Valverde, Rodriguez and Contador.
0 – Number of days on which the race was led by a non-Spanish rider.
4 – Only four riders led the green jersey points competition during the race: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano), Valverde, Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Rodriguez.
4 – Number of riders who led the polka dot jersey King of the Mountains competition: Javier Chacon (Andalucia), Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM), Clarke and Valverde. Clarke regained the jersey on stage 14 and never relinquished it. He held the jersey for a total of 12 days.
0 – Having at one stage held three of the four individual jerseys simultaneously, as well as lying a close second in the mountains classification, Joaquim Rodriguez ended with none. He lost the points and all-round jerseys on the final stage.
It was looking so good for so long for Rodriguez … (image courtesy of Katusha)
29 – Number of riders who finished within an hour of Contador’s total time. Only two riders finished within ten minutes (Valverde and Rodriguez).
4:32:35 – Cheng Li (Argos-Shimano) was the last classified finisher, four hours and 32 minutes slower than Contador. Only eight stages took longer to complete than this.
1 – Cheng Li was the first Chinese rider ever to finish any of the three Grand Tours.
4 – Caja Rural’s Francisco Aramendia won the daily combativity prize for the most aggressive rider four times.
The champion
Image courtesy of Roz Jones
29 – Age of Alberto Contador.
1:16 – Contador’s winning margin over Valverde, representing just 0.025% of his total time.
2 – This was only the second time Contador has ridden the Vuelta – and his second overall victory.
5 – It is his fifth Grand Tour victory (excluding the 2010 Tour and the 2011 Giro, which he relinquished as a consequence of his back-dated two-year doping ban.
5 – He is only the fifth rider ever to win five Grand Tours before the age of 30.
1 – Stages won by Contador during the race (stage 17).
5 – Days in the red jersey for Contador, compared to 13 for Rodriguez.
0 – WorldTour points Contador earned for his team with his overall victory, due to his ban.
The stage winners
12 – Number of different stage winners.
4 – Number of riders with multiple stage victories: John Degenkolb (five), Joaquim Rodriguez (three), BMC’s Philippe Gilbert and Alejandro Valverde (two each).
Degenkolb (right, in green) dominated the sprints (image courtesy of Susi Goetze)
8 – Different nationalities who won stages: Spain led the way with seven, followed by Germany (five), Belgium and Italy (two each), Australia, Sweden, Britain and Russia (one each).
10 – Only ten of the 22 teams won stages during the race, with Argos-Shimano leading the way with five, all courtesy of Degenkolb.
1 – Simon Clarke‘s win on stage four was his first professional race victory, in his fourth pro season. His last race win of any kind was in June 2008.
1 – Clarke’s victory in the King of the Mountains competition was the first Grand Tour jersey win for Orica-GreenEDGE in their debut season.
0 – Philippe Gilbert‘s victory total in 2012 before his two wins here.
And a few other random stats …
1 – Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) became the only rider in 2012 to finish all three Grand Tours.
38 – Age of Matteo Tossato (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), the oldest rider in the race.
21 – Age of Tom Dumloulin (Argos-Shinano), the youngest rider in the race.
48 – Number of Spanish riders who started the race, the most of any nation.
After 23 days and 3,360km of gruelling effort, much of it uphill and frequently featuring ramps in excess of 20%, the 2012 Vuelta a España is finally over and we have a Spanish clean sweep of the podium places. Ultimately the race hinged on one apparently innocuous summit finish and a spectacular effort by Alberto Contador, which turned a race which seemed to be going very much Joaquim Rodriguez‘s way completely on its head. Here is a stage-by-stage reminder of how Contador, Valverde and Rodriguez came to dominate their home Grand Tour.
Rabobank topped the time-sheets for much of the opening team time trial, before being – somewhat surprisingly – knocked off at the last by Movistar‘s late bull-run around the streets of Pamplona. On his Grand Tour debut, Jonathan Castroviejo had the honour of donning the first red jersey. Just five seconds covered the next seven teams in a thrilling opening to the 2012 Vuelta.
Stage winner: Movistar.
General classification: 1. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), 2. Javier Moreno (Movistar) same time, 3. Benat Intxausti (Movistar) s/t.
A routine bunch sprint concluded the first proper road stage of the race. John Degenkolb – who finished second, third and fourth in sprints in last year’s edition – finally achieved the top step of the podium with a well-timed final burst. The German powered past Sky’s Ben Swift and Orica-GreenEDGE’s Allan Davis in the closing metres to claim victory.
Stage winner: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
General classification: 1. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), 2. Nairo Quintano (Movistar) same time, 3. Javier Moreno (Movistar) s/t.
In a thrilling finale, Alberto Contador launched a sequence of stinging attacks on the final climb of Alto de Arrate, shaking off all but Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez and Chris Froome. However, he missed out on the time bonuses as Froome held him off for third while Valverde edged out Rodriguez for the win by a tyre’s width.
Simon Clarke claimed his first professional win – and his first of any description in over four years – despatching Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in a two-up sprint after the pair had ridden away from their breakaway companions. Most of the main GC contenders finished two minutes behind – except for Alejandro Valverde, who lost time in a crash after Sky split the peloton in crosswinds. Joaquim Rodriguez took over the race lead – by one second.
Stage winner: Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:01, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:05.
John Degenkolb overhauled RadioShack-Nissan’s Daniele Bennati to take his second stage victory after eight circuits of Logroño. Andalucia’s Javier Chacon embarked on a long solo breakaway, gaining 12 minutes at one point, but his effort was always going to be doomed on what amounted to a day off for the GC contenders.
Stage winner: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:01, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:05.
Joaquim Rodriguez took the stage win from Chris Froome after Sky had helped explode a greatly reduced contenders’ group in the final kilometre of the Alto Fuerto de Rapitan. The GC riders ended up strewn all over the road, with Alejandro Valverde finishing alone in third and a dehydrated Alberto Contador fourth.
Stage winner: Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:10, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:36.
Excitement factor: 4/5.
Stage 7: Huesca to Alcañiz. Motorland Aragón, 164.2km
On a routine flat sprinters’ stage, Sky burnt up their lead-out for Ben Swift too early. Argos-Shimano took charge when it really mattered in the final kilometre and promptly delivered John Degenkolb to his third victory.
Stage winner: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:10, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:36.
Excitement factor: 1/5.
Stage 8: Lleida to Andorra. Collada de la Gallina, 174.7km
Alejandro Valverde started a series of attacks and counter-attacks 3km from the summit finish on the Collada de la Gallina, and then finished it to edge out Joaquim Rodriguez for the stage victory, his second of the race. Alberto Contador‘s stinging attack in the final kilometre appeared to have earned him victory, but his two compatriots hurtled past him within sight of the line to deny him. Chris Froome couldn’t stand the pace and lost 15 seconds on the road.
Stage winner: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:33, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:40.
Yet again Alberto Contador had nothing to show for initiating a late attack, this time on Barcelona’s Montjuic hill. Rodriguez and Philippe Gilbert rode off the front of the pack near the summit and held them off all the way to the finish, with the Belgian’s superior sprint easing him to his first win of the year. Nonetheless the race leader was delighted to have put a further 20 seconds (including bonuses) into all his main rivals.
Stage winner: Philippe Gilbert (BMC).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:53, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +1:00.
John Degenkolb made it four sprint wins out of four as he dominated the bunch finish in Sanxenxo with a long-range effort. Nacer Bouhanni was second and Daniele Bennati third as the GC contenders ticked off another day on the calendar.
Stage winner: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:53, 3. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +1:00.
Excitement factor: 1/5.
Stage 11: Cambados to Pontevedra, 39.4km individual time trial
Fredrik Kessiakoff blitzed the hilly course to claim a surprising but deserved victory in an exciting individual time trial. Alberto Contador beat Chris Froome for second, while both Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez rode the time trials of their lives to finish fourth and seventh-fastest respectively. Rodriguez retained the red jersey from Contador by a single second.
Stage winner: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:01, 3. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:16.
Excitement factor: 4/5.
Stage 12: Vilagarcía de Arousa to Mirador de Ézaro, 190.5km
The day’s four-man break looked to be heading for victory before disintegrating on the super-steep final climb to Mirador de Ézaro. Alberto Contador and Joaquim Rodriguez accelerated away from their rivals on the ascent, but despite Contador’s best efforts to break him, the race leader jumped out of his wheel in the closing stages and sped away, extending his overall lead from one to 13 seconds.
Stage winner: Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:13, 3. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:51.
Excitement factor: 4/5.
Stage 13: Santiago de Compostela to Ferrol, 172.8km
Out of a break of seven men, it was Steve Cummings who made the decisive move to split away from his breakaway companions and ride a 4km individual time trial to victory. He was never more than a handful of seconds ahead of Cameron Meyer and Juan Antonio Flecha, but neither could bridge the Briton’s winning four-second gap. The rest of the peloton steadfastly refused to help Argos-Shimano in a forlorn chase, electing to save their energy for the three summit finishes to follow.
Stage winner: Steve Cummings (BMC).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:13, 3. Chris Froome (Sky) +0:51.
Excitement factor: 3/5.
Stage 14: Palas de Rei to Puerto de Ancares, 149.2km
Alberto Contador attacked, then attacked, then attacked again on the Puerto de Ancares, blowing the GC to smithereens, before finally breaking away and establishing an 11-second cushion with half a kilometre remaining. To no avail, as yet again Joaquim Rodriguez remained calm under pressure and swept past Contador with ease with a devastating final burst. Alejandro Valverde again lost a handful of seconds, Chris Froome rather more on the first of three huge days in the high mountains.
Stage winner: Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:22, 3. Chris Froome (Sky) +1:41.
Antonio Piedra soloed off the front 10km from the summit of the legendary Covadonga to claim a season-defining win for his wild-card Caja Rural team. Ten minutes behind, Contador again launched multiple attacks but ultimately he, Rodriguez and Valverde finished together as Chris Froome‘s podium hopes began to fade as he lost 30-plus seconds for the second day in succession.
Stage winner: Antonio Piedra (Caja Rural).
General classification: 1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +0:22, 3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1:41.
Excitement factor: 5/5.
Stage 16: Gijón to Valgrande-Pajares. Cuitu Negru, 183.5km
Dario Cataldo pulled away from breakaway companion Thomas De Gendt in the closing stages of one of the slowest finishes – 15 minutes to cover the last 3km – ever seen at a Grand Tour. But a little further down the road Chris Froome finally cracked to leave the Three Amigos – Contador, Rodriguez and Valverde – to slug it out. Contador was again the most aggressive, Valverde fell away and yet again Rodriguez darted ahead in the closing metres to snatch third and the final time bonus to extend his overall lead.
Alberto Contador and Saxo-Tinkoff orchestrated an audacious long-range break, and on the long but comparatively mild climb of Fuente Dé Joaquim Rodriguez foundered, where he had been so confident on the big, steep climbs. Contador snatched the red jersey as an exhausted Rodriguez sustained losses of close to three minutes to drop behind Valverde into third.
Stage winner: Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).
General classification: 1. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), 2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1:52, 3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +2:28.
Excitement factor: 5/5.
Stage 18: Aguilar de Campoo to Valladolid, 204.5km
A high-speed stage stretched and then fractured the peloton, leaving Daniele Bennati to edge out Ben Swift at the finish. For once, Argos-Shimano and John Degenkolb got it slightly wrong, as the German failed to win a bunch sprint for the first time in the race.
Philippe Gilbert powered away from the field on a tricky uphill finish. A late five-man break formed inside the final 4km which threatened to foil the puncheurs’ uphill charge. But the Belgian was helped to his second win by sterling work from teammate Alessandro Ballan and had no problem easing away from a heavy-legged Ben Swift in the final 150 metres.
Stage winner: Philippe Gilbert (BMC).
General classification: 1. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), 2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1:35, 3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +2:21.
Excitement factor: 3/5.
Stage 20: La Faisanera Golf to Bola del Mundo, 170.7km
Denis Menchov and Richie Porte proved to be the strongest members of the day’s breakaway on Bola del Mundo, with the Russian pulling away in the final few hundred metres to take victory. Behind him, his Katusha team captain Joaquim Rodriguez rolled the dice one more time and succeeded in distancing first Valverde and then Contador to put time into both, but not enough to change the podium order ahead of the processional final stage.
Stage winner: Denis Menchov (Katusha).
General classification: 1. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), 2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1:16, 3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +1:37.
John Degenkolb underlined his mastery of the bunch sprints with his fifth stage victory. There were no changes to the general classification – with Alberto Contador duly taking the overall win – but a sixth-place finish by Alejandro Valverde added insult to injury for Joaquim Rodriguez as the points and all-round classifications passed on to the shoulders of the Movistar rider at the death.
Stage winner: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
General classification: 1. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), 2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1:16, 3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +1:37.
Excitement factor: 1/5.
Roll of honour
Overall winner: Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).
Points winner: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
King of the Mountains winner: Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE).
While many predicted a certain Norwegian winner from Sky for this race, few would have put their money on Lars Petter Nordhaug over Edvald Boasson Hagen. But that was how it finished as the Grand Prix series in Canada came to a close. Nordhaug made a late attack and caught the peloton off-guard, surging in front of his fellow escapees as it seemed he was fading away. This was the biggest win of the 28-year old’s career, with Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) second and Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) third.
