2017 Vuelta a Espana: Stage 12 Results

One week after his first stage win at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana, Tomasz Marczyński claimed a second stage victory on Stage 12. The stage between Motril and Antequera, was only 160 kilometres long and consisted of a relatively flat first part before hitting two difficult climbs in the second half of the race. After fighting for almost sixty kilometres, fourteen riders finally managed to establish the breakaway. Tomasz Marczyński and his companions collaborated efficiently throughout the day and their advantage quickly reached eight minutes.

The escapees stayed united on the Puerto del León to make sure they would stay up front and they crossed the summit together. From then on it was less than sixty kilometres to go. Mørkøv tried to go clear in the descent, but he was reeled in before the Puerto del Torcal. This second category climb brought the collaboration of the breakaway to an end and Marczyński, Canty and Fraile accelerated on the steepest parts, but the trio was unable to drop the rest of the group. Marczyński then left his companions behind four kilometres from the summit and he enjoyed a comfortable one-minute lead on the chasing group when he came first at the top of the climb with seventeen and a half kilometres remaining. The Pole managed to stay away until the finish line.

Marczyński: “It was an amazing feeling to win today, especially because the race started really close to my home place. There were a lot of people I know at the side of the road and that gave me extra motivation. Today was a day during which I really wanted to try something, so I attacked several times in the beginning to make it into the breakaway. I spent a lot of energy, but in the end I was happy to have done so because I felt really good. I thought « Now that I’m here, I have an opportunity to win a second stage, so I’m going to make sure I use it as well as possible ». I knew I had the legs to do it again today and I was in control the whole day.”

“I tried to stay focused and I knew I had to spare my energy for the final climb. I first tried to follow other people’s attacks, and I went clear when I felt that it was the right moment. The breakaway was starting to fall apart but I still had good legs, and when I heard that I had a one-minute gap, I decided to go full gas until the line. With two kilometres to go I got a wrong information that the chasing group was only thirty seconds behind me, so I was a bit worried, but then our sports director told me that the gap was still around fifty seconds and I was relieved. I then enjoyed every metre until the finish line, it really was an incredible feeling. I will keep attacking in this Vuelta, but I first have to recover from today’s efforts. I will see afterwards how my legs feel: if the condition is still there when another opportunity arises, I will go for it. That’s what the team is here for, so my teammates will also try their best in the upcoming stages.”

Fraile Takes Second

Omar Fraile came close for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka  and ultimately had to settle for 2nd place, though he was awarded the most combative rider on the stage.

“Today, it was so difficult to make it into the breakaway with non-stop attacking for the first 50 km,” said Fraile. “In fact, I was the last rider to make it across to the front group. I felt good all day. My legs were strong on the penultimate climb but unfortunately, I suffered from a few cramps on the last climb when the Lotto-Soudal rider attacked so I decided to keep my own pace towards the top. In the final part, we rode really hard but it was not possible to catch him again. However, I’m still happy because last week I was sick and almost going home. We are only four riders left in the team now but we will continue to fight. There are still more opportunities for us.”

Drama for Froome and Contador

Chris Froome recovered from two late crashes to retain the red leader’s jersey thanks to some fantastic teamwork on stage 12.

In the closing 15 kilometres of the stage, Froome was forced to change his bike after the first crash before falling shortly afterwards on a tight corner.

Fortunately, teammates Wout Poels and Mikel Nieve were able to help pace Froome back into contention dropping just 20 seconds to second-placed Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and 40 seconds to Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) who had initiated an attack shortly before the incident.

The race leader was upbeat after the stage, believing he was fortunate to get away lightly after his crash and hailing the work of his teammates Poels and Nieve.

“I’m doing fine, I’m just grateful it’s not more serious,” Froome said after the stage. “I lost my front wheel in the corner, it was really dry slippery corner and I just lost my front wheel a bit.

“It’s never good to lose time, but it’s good that it’s 20 seconds and not one minute.

“I had two teammates, Mikel Nieve and Wout Poels with me –  they were fantastic and they helped me all the way to the finish and helped me limited my losses.

“I think all in all I’m just grateful I’m not more seriously injured and just lost a bit of skin.”

Stage 12 Brief Results:

1. Tomasz Marczynski (Poland / Lotto-Soudal) 3:56:45″
2. Omar Fraile (Spain / Team Dimension Data) +52″
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spain / Movistar Team)
4. Pawel Poljanski (Poland / BORA-hansgrohe)
5. Stef Clement (Netherlands / LottoNL-Jumbo)
6. Brendan Canty (Australia / Cannondale-Drapac) +1:42″
7. Anthony Perez (France / Cofidis, Solutions Credits) +2:50″
8. Jan Polanc (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates)
9. Andreas Schillinger (Germany / BORA-hansgrohe)
10. David Arroyo (Spain / Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) +3:00″

General Classification After Stage 12:

1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 49:22:53″
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida) +59″
3. Esteban Chaves (Colombia / Orica-Scott) +2:13″
4. David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) +2:16″
5. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Team Sunweb) +2:17″
6. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha-Alpecin) +2:18″
7. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) +2:37″
8. Michael Woods (Canada / Cannondale-Drapac) +2:41″
9. Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek-Segafredo) +3:13″
10. Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia / Astana Pro Team) +3:51″