VaE: Albasini wins in Ponferrada, as Nibali moves closer to red

Michael Albasini took, probably, the Vuelta’s slowest sprint finish and the biggest stage victory, of his career on stage 13.

Albasini finished in a group of 18 riders and had the legs on all of them, bringing the bike home around two lengths over Eros Capecchi. The big Swiss rider, who won last year’s Tour of Britain, sprung out of the group with about 500 to go and was uncatchable. Daniel Moreno gave Katusha a boost, with yet another stage victory for the Russian outfit. Nicolas Roche couldn’t manage the sprint, but still rode over in 5^th place. He now sits just outside the top 10 and with the times so close at the moment, he could find himself in there very soon.

A few tight bends towards the end cause some trouble, but nobody was injured. Jan Bakelandts came unstuck at a roundabout, after he misjudged the bend and lost control of his back wheel. The Belgian was still clipped in to his pedals, as he tried to get off the ground. Saved by the padding over the road furniture, he was able to finish 15 seconds down on Albasini.

Wouter Poels was the first of the main bunch to cross the line, gaining four seconds on some of the big GC riders. Race leader, Bradley Wiggins crossed the line, with many of his contemporaries, 1:33 down on the stage winner. The peloton looked like they were bringing down the gap, as they neared the top of the final climb, but the leaders pulled it back out to over two minutes.

Vincenzo Nibali was another rider to finish in the main group and the bonus seconds he won, in the first intermediate sprint, helps to move him in to second. The reigning champion is now only 4 seconds down on Wiggins, but will have to fight hard to take it of the Brit’s shoulders. Chris Froome and Jakob Fuglsang still loom behind the pair, ready for any mistake.

Taylor Phinney and Marcel Kittel were the day’s withdrawals, both riders taking part in their debut Grand Tour. Phinney took fifth in the time-trial, on stage 10, but well and truly popped on stage 12 and finished almost 10 minutes down. Kittel came in to the tour with the intention to leave after today’s stage, but fatigue prevented him from even getting that far and he didn’t sign on for the stage. The current withdrawal count is at 17, which is not bad when you consider the heat the riders have been put through.

Stage 14 starts off with a gentler gradient than some this year, but the above category climb, at the finish, will really test the legs. Anyone hoping to win, on top of La Farrapona Lagos de Somiedo, will have to contend with a first and second category climb first. With some big descents available, we could see Nibali going on the attack and riding in to red.