Throughout its history, Colombia has been an exporting country of climbers. The number is endless. There are big names like Lucho Herrera, Fabio Parra or Santiago Botero. But for some time now, track cycling has taken center stage in the South American country and great talents have emerged such as Fernando Gaviría, winner of stages in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, and Juan Sebastián Molano ( UAE), winner of the twelfth stage of the Vuelta a España at the arrival in Zaragoza ahead of the great favorite, the Australian Kaden Groves.
The day before the queen stage, ending in the fearsome Tourmalet, which for the first time in history is the final stage of the Spanish round, was the closest thing to a rest day on wheels. Calm and comfortable day for the peloton, which regained its strength against what is at stake in the coming days. Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) stirred up the day by attacking with 140 kilometers to go. But Alpecin, controllers of the stage from start to finish, never let them reach a lead of more than two minutes and with 40 left they decided to end their adventure and impose a greater pace to avoid surprises.
Double winner in this round, Kaden Groves was aiming for the triplet, however, Molano had an ambush prepared that no one expected. In Tarragona he could not match the Australian’s power and was second in the stage. That is why for this occasion he designed another strategy, which consisted of preparing the arrival with a pitcher who stood out from Alpecin’s line. Marc Soler, “the setter” according to Molano, was the first to launch them, then Rui Oliveira advanced to all the Alpecin on the right with Molano at his wheel. The violence of his attack was such that Groves’ men lost their wake. When the Australian won, it was completely impossible to unseat the Colombian. Molano arrived alone with several meters of distance to add his second victory in the Vuelta after the one he won last year.
“I didn’t even expect what happened last year. But this time she had worked it. He did not know in what condition he arrived. But now I see that he was very good,” Molano said at the finish line.
The tense calm between the favorites was broken by Roglic, who achieved four bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint that could be important in the coming days. For now, what is coming is a colossal day with four climbs, three of them world-class (Col d’Aubisque, Col de Spandelles) and a historic finish in itself at the Col de Tourmalet: 18 kilometers uphill with a average slope close to 10% in the last two kilometers.
