Vuelta a España stage 12: Sebastián Molano springs a surprise to win sprint

Sebastián Molano won stage 12 of the Vuelta a España as the pre-stage favourite Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was surprised in the final 300m of the day. Groves found himself boxed in as the UAE Team Emirates riders executed the perfect lead-out in the finale.

It was Molano's first win of this year's race, after taking stage 21 at last year's Vuelta a España. His tally of Grand Tour stage victories now rises to two. Behind Molano, a frustrated Groves came home in second place, with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty's Boy van Poppel rounding out the day's podium in third.

With a sprint expected in Zaragoza, the breakaway was only made up of two riders, Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Their lead only reached two and a half minutes before Alpecin-Deceuninck kept them on a tight leash on behalf of the sprinters' teams.

Bol was the more aggressive of the two riders out front, venturing off the front of the peloton not once, but twice. His second effort, however, lasted only 6km before the peloton swept him up once more in advance of the sprint finish, in which Molano emerged victorious.

“I am very happy,” Molano said at the finish. “Thanks to my team for the war, they were amazing today. This victory is for my team and my family. I am very happy, two stages in the Vuelta, last year and this year, after the incident, it’s not easy but now it’s okay.”

“Alpecin were really strong but I think they have to come down a notch. And us, we have guys for the GC, who are really strong and we believe in them but today our job was for me, Rui [Oliveira] did it perfectly, Marc [Soler] was perfect too, and we did it like we planned in the meeting. In the last corner, I went to the left, and we had to be in front, sticking to the barriers and I tried to do my sprint like I wanted to do on the other days.”

Jetse Bol and Abel Balderstone brave the breakaway

On a stage that looked destined to end in a sprint from the very first day it was announced, it was always going to be only the hardiest souls who sought their fortunes from the breakaway, leaving this responsibility to two of the peloton’s noted breakaway specialists.

Almost immediately after the flag dropped on the outskirts of Ólvega, Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) drifted off the front of the peloton and were waved away by their appreciative colleagues. That was the doomed breakaway of the day established, but although the stage victory would be a tough ask as part of a two-man move, these were to be important kilometres for Bol and Balderstone.

Riding for two ProConti outfits, time in the breakaway is a perfect opportunity to show the sponsors’ colours on the television and reward them for the financial investment they have put into each town. Besides, nobody has ever won the national lottery without getting a ticket, as Bol well knows. Despite the long odds that faced the pair, the Dutchman has proved before that Burgos-BH are as capable as any team to spring a surprise.

© Sprint Cycling Agency

Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) were to be by each other’s sides for the majority of Thursday afternoon

Bol was part of a winning breakaway at the Vuelta a España in 2019, alongside the stage victor on the day and his teammate, Ángel Madrazo. The Dutchman was arguably as strong as Madrazo on the climb to Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre, but it was the Spaniard who had stolen a march on the front group and thus, Bol was restricted to simply marking moves beyond the eventual stage 5 winner - finishing second himself.

On the road to Zaragoza on Thursday afternoon, Bol and Balderstone’s hopes were quelled somewhat by the display of intent that Alpecin-Deceuninck put on, taking full control of the peloton with a little over 130km to ride. The Belgian team decided to keep the leading duo on a tight leash, reducing their advantage from two and a half minutes, and keeping it consistently under that two-minute margin.

Their work was done on behalf of green jersey wearer and winner of stages 4 and 5, sprinter Kaden Groves. The Alpecin-Deceuninck team is largely built around their fast man and over the hilly stages that have challenged the peloton since stage 7, their riders have often come to the finish together in the grupetto.

As Alpecin-Deceuninck took control of proceedings in the peloton, the only event of note through the first 60km was a crash that brought down six riders. Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), Alan Joussaeume (TotalEnergies), Daniel Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan) were the unfortunate riders caught up, with Navarro in particular sporting a torn-up jersey for the rest of the afternoon.

Jonas Vingegaard, meanwhile, was spotted on bottle duty for his Jumbo-Visma teammates. It may not mean much, but it is a rare sight to see the reigning Tour de France champion expending such energy when still in the GC hunt. The Dane started the day in seventh place, 2:22 down on teammate and race leader, Sepp Kuss, with a 46-second deficit to teammate and third-placed, Primož Roglič.

Bol remains resolute but the peloton gets their sprint

Slowly but surely, the Alpecin-Deceuninck-led peloton chipped away at the lead of Bol and Balderstone, which forced the former into an attack with 45km to ride. Sensing the oncoming peloton behind, Bol tried to up the pace at the front and this briefly distanced Balderstone, but both riders were soon caught.

It appeared as though the breakaway had had its fun out front, with an intermediate sprint all that remained before an inevitable sprint finish in Zaragoza.

But ever the aggressor, Bol stole a march on the peloton once more and went off on his own at the front of the race. The day's combativity award would surely fall to the Dutchman, but he was eventually caught for good by the peloton with 39km to go.

20km later, the intermediate sprint in Villaneuva de Gállego threw up a slight surprise as Jumbo-Visma mounted an assault on the bonus seconds. Groves of Alpecin-Deceuninck extended his lead in the green jersey, but it was Roglič who darted over the line behind him to take four bonus seconds and reduce his deficit to Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) - third in the GC - to 23 seconds.

All eyes were now on the run-in to Zaragoza for what was destined to be the race's first sprint finish since stage 7.

At first, it appeared as though Alpecin-Deceuninck's fine work was continuing to the last, with Groves being shepherded into the final kilometre within the first few riders and all looking set for a perfect finale for the Australian. But things took a turn for the worse for the Belgian squad inside the final 500m.

250m from the line, UAE Team Emirates made the jump on Alpecin-Deceuninck and took centre stage at the head of the peloton. This gave Sebastián Molano the perfect platform from which to launch a late sprint and come over the line in first position.

Having been gazumped over their right-hand shoulders, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Groves found themselves somewhat boxed in, forcing the Aussie to navigate his sprint around that of Molano. It was all too little, too late for the two-time stage winner, who was forced to settle for second.

Behind this power battle of the race's elite sprinters, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty's Boy van Poppel took third position.

The only GC changes on the day were the four bonus seconds that Roglič managed to take on his rivals. All eyes will now turn to the Col du Tourmalet summit finish on stage 13.

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