Stage 12:Circuito de Navarra to Bilbao, 171.4km
Gilbert goes solo to win in Bilbao
Deceuninck-Quickstep’s Philipe Gilbert took a sixth la Vuelta victory and the tenth Grand Tour Stage of his career after he held off Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) and Fernando Barceló (Euskadi Basque Country – Murias) in the final kilometres to make it a solo win.
“There was a lot of headwind in the first part of the stage, but that didn’t stop us, and we attacked and joined many moves, but the bunch reacted each time. It was pretty chaotic, but we kept attacking and at one point, I went full gas on a descent. Tim came across, some other guys joined us, and together we opened a small gap which we kept increasing. Tim was so important, he did a brilliant job, especially before the last ascent, where he closed the gap on the two leaders, and I’m grateful to him for his help. From there, all I had to do was race smart and stick to my plan, which I did and now I’m satisfied it all paid off”, said the fourth Belgian rider in history to win a La Vuelta stage in at least four different years
Stage 12 Video Summary (Courtesy La Vuelta)
Stage 12 Results and GC