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Juan Molano benefited from a perfectly-timed leadout by UAE Team Emirates teammate Rui Oliveira to win stage 12 of the Vuelta a España in Zaragoza, while American Sepp Kuss retained the overall lead.
Oliveira made his move inside the final 400 meters, powering past points leader Kaden Groves’ Alpecin-Deceuninck team with a high speed surge, carrying Molano on his coattails and giving him the perfect platform to launch his sprint.
Groves got tangled up in traffic and his right foot briefly came out of the pedals. The Australian came from a long way back for second, but ran out of road for the win.
Boy van Poppel (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) was third, with Kuss and the other general classification contenders finishing further back but in the same time as Molano.
Kuss remains 26 seconds in front of Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) staying 1:09 back in third.
The American’s teammate Primož Roglič was second in the day’s intermediate sprint and moves four seconds closer to the race lead. He is now 23 seconds behind the Belgian in fourth and 1:32 off Kuss.
The American said that that time gain was good for Jumbo-Visma. “It never hurts to try. If you are in a good position then is easy enough to go for it,” he said. “I think tomorrow will be normally bigger differences, but it is always good.”
Friday’s stage takes the riders to the top of the Tourmalet. Asked if the strategy will be about defense or attack for him, he said that remains to be decided.
“It is hard to say right now. We still have the three of us there. I will have to see how I feel. There is not much more to say,” he smiled.
The stage from Ólvega was downhill early on, had an unclassified climb inside the first hour, and another one summiting 40km from the finish. Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) were the day’s breakaway riders but weren’t given much space by Groves’ team, with a bunch gallop playing out in the end.
Colombian rider Molano had previously taken the sprint victory in Madrid in last year’s Vuelta, making this the second Grand Tour stage victory of his career.
Prior to the stage he said he had ‘100 percent trust’ in Oliveira, saying that he would bring him to the front. That’s exactly how things played out.
“I am very happy. Thanks for the work of my team. My team today were amazing. Rui did a great job for me, and also Marc Soler. We did it like it was planned. On the last corner we had to be at the front just to be close to the fences, and just open up at that point.
“This victory is for my team, for my family. I am very happy to win a stage in the Vuelta, last year, this year. I am very happy. After the incident [he was hit head on by a motorist in March, suffering a concussion and broken toe] it is not easy to return, but now it is okay. I am very happy.”
Groves explained what happened from his perspective. “There is not too much to say. Tim [Merlier] did a fantastic job. In the end we got bumped by UAE, who came with momentum. My chain actually dropped. I managed to get it on, I think I showed a really strong sprint, but unfortunately it was too far back. Too late.
“It is super disappointing. It could have been win number three, but we are also still in the hunt for the points, which is also important to us now.”
How it played out:
Stage 12 of the Vuelta a España was, at a glance, likely to be a straightforward one. It began with 70 kilometers of mainly downhill roads, featuring just one climb which lacks classification, and then a downhill to flat run in to the finish line.
Former Vuelta a España runner-up Fernando Escartín warned prior to the Vuelta start that winds could be a factor and cause echelons, increasing the potential complication to GC riders and those targeting the stage. However, that didn’t pan out, making things much more predictable.
Very soon after the drop of the flag two riders sprang clear. Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) were deemed to be of little threat and the peloton was content to let their advantage grow past two minutes.
ZARAGOZA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 07: (L-R) Jetse Bol of The Netherlands and Team Burgos-BH and Abel Balderstone of Spain and Team Caja Rural – Seguros RGA in the breakaway during stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, a 150.6km from Ólvega to Zaragoza on September 07, 2023. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Bol was second on a Vuelta stage in 2019 and was looking to equal or better that the day before his 34th birthday, while Baldersone—ten years his junior—was seeking glory, or at very least TV time, in his first grand tour.
However the Alpecin-Deceuninck team of star sprinter Kaden Groves was tapping through, keeping things reasonable, and with 100km left the two escapees were just 1:20 clear. This ebbed further to inside 30 seconds with 50km remaining, and soon afterwards the duo were reeled in.
Bol wasn’t finished, though, and clipped away again for another few minutes out front. He finally ended his time in the day’s spotlight with 39km left, giving Grove’s team a clear view out front.
The day’s intermediate sprint was located 18km from the end and with bonus seconds up for grabs, the GC riders were watching each other keenly. Jumbo-Visma led it out, with Groves jumping and leading Roglič across the line. Evenepoel didn’t dispute it, with his Soudal Quick-Step teammate Casper Pedersen taking third.
They got six, four and two bonus seconds respectively, moving Roglič to 23 seconds off Evenepoel in the general classification. Both remained over a minute behind Kuss, though.
Alpecin-Deceuninck came back to the front, one of those riders bumping Roglič as he did so. However other teams then took over heading inside the final 10km, with Bahrain Victorious and Caja Rural prominent, then being replaced by Soudal Quick-Step.
EF-Education EasyPost and then Jumbo-Visma took over, only for Alpecin-Deceuninck to return and set things up for Groves. However, UAE Team Emirates timed things perfectly, with Molano getting a perfect leadout and speeding home to grand tour stage win number two.
Leadout man Rui Oliveira said things were dangerous and complicated at the end. “It was really chaos. Our strategy was to go on the left side as the wind was coming from the right and it was bending a bit on the left. So we knew it would be important to time well the sprint, also because of the bit of headwind. But with 500 meters to go, it was a bit chaotic to get on the left side. Some guys are completely crazy.
“I knew I had the legs from the other day. I knew if I timed it well I could perform a really good leadout. I just decided to go with 450 or so to go. I really felt like I had pretty good legs. I knew that Molano would be on my wheel, so when I saw him passing and no one coming close, for me this victory is just like mine. I feel so proud.”