Alexandre Geniez wins stage 12 as Jesus Herrada takes red – La Vuelta
2018 Vuelta a Espana
Stage 12
On a fast and technical downhill finish to the 181km stage along the coastline of northern Spain, the experienced Geniez (Ag2R-La Mondiale) opened up his sprint early and held off frustrated Dutchman Dylan van Baarle (Team Sky) on the narrow home straight to pick up the third Vuelta stage win of his career.
Ukraine’s Mark Padun (Bahrain Merida) took third place ahead of Belgians Dylan Teuns (BMC) and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) after a strong 18-man break was whittled down to eight, and then a five-way tussle for victory ensued at the Estaca de Bares lighthouse at Manon.
Part of that initial break, Herrada (Cofidis) came home two-and-a-half-minutes down in 16th place after the leaders fragmented over a challenging final 30km of racing. But with the peloton crossing the line almost 12 minutes in arrears, the Spaniard took over the race lead by a considerable margin.
Herrada now leads Great Britain’s Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) by 3’22” going into three successive stages in the Asturias and Leon mountains, with Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) one second back in third place.
Geniez was instantly brought down to earth following his win in a nasty collision with a race official. Swerving to avoid the cluster of photographers waiting beyond the finish line, the Frenchman shouldered into the accredited individual, who was running away with his back to the action.
Sending the man sprawling into the path of Van Baarle and Teuns – the former hitting the deck quite forcibly – Geniez then collided with two policemen in what was an unnecessarily dramatic conclusion to an otherwise entertaining day’s racing.
In the cooler temperatures of Galicia, and a marked absence of sunshine, the day’s large break formed shortly after the start with 18 riders going clear on the Cat.3 Alto de Cadeira, in pole position.
Belgian Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) took the maximum three points going over the summit – just as he would 120km later when cresting the only other categorised climb, the Cat.3 Alto de San Pedro.
In between these two tests, the break – which also included, most notably, the Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) – stretched its lead above the 1-minute mark after the Mitchelton-Scott team of race leader Yates refused to set tempo, tactically relinquishing their grasp on the red jersey.
The final third of the stage took the riders through dense woodland and over a series of testing uncategorised climbs. Predictably, it was not long before a selection was made in the break – with the likes of De Gendt, Nibali and Herrada all missing out after an injection of pace following the intermediate sprint with 24km remaining.
Campenaerts and Padun were joined in a leading quartet by Italian duo Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) and Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe), with Geniez, Teuns, Van Baarle and Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors) soon bridging over.
Formolo and Campenaerts were both particularly active on the uphill drags before Van Baarle rode clear with Padun on a sweeping downhill section inside the final 10km.
Back with the peloton the Movistar team of Valverde, the green jersey, and third-place Nairo Quintana finally came to the front to help rivals Mitchelton-Scott with the chase – but by now the damage was done. Even though Herrada had been well and truly dropped by the leaders, his cushion was so large that the Spaniard would rise up from 16th to first in the overall standings.
Brambilla and Devenyns were dropped from the leading group as the sprightly Teuns – riding in the break for a third day running – upped the tempo on the rolling roads.
Van Baarle was momentarily dropped on a steep ramp just ahead of the final kilometre. But the Sky rider fought back on as the road plunged downhill towards the finish straight – and rounded the final bend right on Geniez’s back wheel.
The Frenchman, however, used all his experience and strength to open up an early sprint on the unfeasibly narrow home straight – boxing in Van Baarle towards the barriers before punching the air in celebration.
Geniez’s elation did not last long – while Van Baarle’s frustration quickly turned to pain – after both riders came down in that bizarre incident near the photographers, with fourth-place Teuns also taking a tumble. It was the second time riders have hit the deck in the finish zone – with the race helicopter blowing barriers into riders in the opening week – and asks some serious questions of the Vuelta organisation.
Van Baarle came off worse, while Geniez was able to dust himself down before his podium duties. One day after Alessandro De Marchi completed his own hat-trick of Vuelta stage wins, the 30-year-old reached the same landmark following previous scalps in 2013 and 2016.
“I rode the Giro d’Italia for the general classification and I’ve come here for the stage win – and I’ve now done that,” said Geniez, who finished 11th in May’s Giro.
The rest of the breakaway arrived in dribs and drabs with Herrada finishing one place ahead of Nibali in 16th place 2’32” in arrears. But with Movistar leading the peloton home 11’39” adrift, the 28-year-old pulled off a huge coup by moving into the race leader’s red jersey.
On a day that saw France take their third stage win of the race, Herrada became the second Frenchman to wear the red jersey after Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ). He also became the first Cofidis rider to wear a leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour for a decade, Sylvain Chavanel having been in the old golden leader’s jersey for one day during in the 2008 edition of La Vuelta.
Herrada assuming the race lead continues Cofidis’s strong showing in the 73rd edition of La Vuelta: Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni won Stage 6 before withdrawing on Wednesday while Spain’s Luis Angel Mate has worn the blue polka dot mountains jersey since the start of the race.
For their part, the Mitchelton-Scott team of the man who apparently voluntarily gave up the lead, Yates, will be pleased at losing the responsibility to control the race as the Vuelta hits the high mountains on Friday for the first of three successive summit finishes.
Tomorrow’s stage 13 takes the riders 174.8km from Candas to Valle de Sabero. After a few days in Galicia the race enters Asturias for a trio of mountain stages that should separate the Vuelta wheat from the last-chance saloon chaff. Besides a couple of short downhill dips, the first 90km of Stage 13 gradually heads uphill until the Puerto de Tarna, which is easy enough but a mere hors d’oeuvre to the savage main course.
The Alto de la Camperona is only 8.3km long and starts with two steps before the steep stuff climaxes with a brutal 19.5% spurt near the finish. It’s one of those crazy climbs you only associate with the Vuelta – and one which could prove punishing for anyone but the best.
Previous winners here on the Cantabrian peak are Ryder Hesjedal (2014) and, on the day Nairo Quintana rode into red, Sergey Lagutin (2016). Mistime your kick on the final climb – as Alejandro Valverde did in 2014 – and the consequences could be dire.
