Stage 12

The road

At the start

A quiet day that will not be quiet

Wiggins has red and Froome is second at seven seconds, with Nibali at eleven, Kessiakoff at fourteen and Fuglsang at nineteen: five riders inside twenty seconds after twelve days of racing. Today is 169 kilometres to Pontevedra over a couple of third-category climbs and three finishing circuits, and in a race this tight the intermediate sprints are worth more than they look.

How it was won

1. 1162 km to go

   Mollema takes six seconds

   Seven kilometres into a stage everyone expects to be a formality, Bauke Mollema wins the first intermediate sprint and pockets six bonus seconds, which in this Vuelta is a serious afternoon's work.

2. 2At the line

   Pontevedra

   Sagan spends the last two kilometres jumping from wheel to wheel and arrives in the straight behind Bennati, with Cancellara leading the Italian out. When Bennati opens up, Sagan comes off his left and the drag to the line is long enough that it is never in doubt.

The result