2019 Vuelta a España Stage 12 Results & Recap
Stage 12 of the 2019 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Gilbert wins stage 12
Philippe Gilbert took his sixth Vuelta stage win today in the Basque region, attacking on the final climb to solo into Bilbao ahead of Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Fernando Barcelo (Euskadi-Murias) who finished second and third respectively.
“It’s a nice one because it’s been a really hard La Vuelta until now,” Gilbert said after the race. “I didn’t have many chances to win. Today it was a long fight to get in the breakaway. There have been dozens and dozens of attacks. It was incredible. I must have attacked 20 times myself. It was really intense and painful. There were good climbers with me so I wasn’t really confident. I tried to race smart and I received some great help from my teammate Tim DeClercq. He is a big part of this win and he deserves it as much as I do. The final climbs were a bit like the Ardennes. I like this kind of short effort, I’m able to be among the best when it’s under 10 minutes of climbing. It’s also special because it’s my 10th stage victory on a Grand Tour and that makes a nice number. The atmosphere in the last climb was crazy. It felt like a classic, with all the flags and the crowds. It gave me a lot of motivation. The Basque Country is a bit like Flanders, they love cycling and it’s nice.”
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) crossed the line in Bilbao in a small group about three minutes behind, his GC lead unchallenged. However, tomorrow will be more difficult for the Jumbo Visma team.
“It was a big fight for the breakaway before they eventually went,” Roglic said. “Still, it was a beautiful day. The team was strong and they did a great job to keep me in a good position in the climb so nobody gained time on me. I like this area, I’ve already won races in the Basque Country. I don’t know Los Machucos, it will be my first time up there. I know there are very steep ramps, it will be a hard climb for sure. The team will have to work from km 0, to control who’s in the breakaway and then control the stage. The GC guys will attack in the last climb. We’ll be alone and it will be about making it to the top as fast as possible.”
It was a day of non-stop attacks, but no breakaway until the peloton reached 100km into the stage. Willie Smit (Katusha Alpecin) instigated a move on a downhill section and was eventually joined by 18 riders. They were: José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team), Manuele Boaro (Astana Pro Team), Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida), Felix Grosschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Fran Ventoso (CCC Team), Philippe Gilbert, Tim Declercq (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott), Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb), John Degenkolb, Jacopo Mosca (Trek-Segafredo), Valerio Conti, Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), Alex Aranburu, Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Fernando Barcelo and Cyril Barthe (Euskadi-Murias).
Grosschartner was the first to attack out of the break on the penultimate climb and was joined by Grmay. On the last steep climb, the Alto de Arraiz, the duo was caught and Gilbert accelerated to shake off the rest of his competitors to the end. \n
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