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 5th 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.
