Vuelta a Espana 2016: Stage 13 Winner, Highlights, Updated Standings, Schedule
Lampre-Merida's Valerio Conti beautifully finished off an attacking move to win Stage 13 of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana on Friday—the longest stage in this year's race.
The Italian was part of an early break the peloton gave an enormous lead, and he surprised his companions by going solo with just under 20 kilometers left. Movistar's Nairo Quintana remains the overall leader.
Here's a look at the Stage 13 results:
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| 1 | Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 5:29:04 |
| 2 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:55 |
| 3 | Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha | Same time |
| 4 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team | Same time |
| 5 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling | Same time |
| 6 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Etixx-QuickStep | Same time |
| 7 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Argon 18 | 0:01:02 |
| 9 | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal | Same time |
| 9 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team | Same time |
| 10 | Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Same time |
As the Vuelta's official Twitter account shared, the top 15 of the overall standings remained unchanged:
Recap
Friday's stage was the longest of this year's Vuelta at well over 210 kilometers long, and with some brutal mountain stages on the horizon, it provided the perfect opportunity for an early break.
The stage got off to a slow start, but 12 riders eventually gained a lead over the peloton, and as the Vuelta's official Twitter account shared, none of them sat anywhere close to the top spot:
That was crucial, as it meant the peloton wouldn't work hard to reel them in. Among the escapees were Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep), Gatis Smukulis (Astana) and Sergey Lagutin (Katusha).
Movistar controlled the peloton's tempo, but the pace was slow, and the lead group soon built an enormous lead. With over 150 kilometers left to race, their lead was up to 11 minutes, meaning Smukulis was quickly moving too far ahead to help team leader Alberto Contador with a late move.
The gap approached the 20-minute mark as the group arrived at the final part of the stage, which was more hilly than the terrain they had seen so far. In the background, Movistar were still leading the peloton, but the Spanish outfit barely ever got out of the saddle.
With 55 kilometers to go, Smukulis launched the first attack up front, and the race for the stage win was on. The leaders found each other again, but it was clear the group's unity was gone, and Lagutin launched a big attack to grab top marks in the mountain classification, taking the lead in that competition in the process.
Lotto Soudal's Jelle Wallays and Tinkoff's Michael Gogl left their companions 30 kilometers from the finish line, with Smukulis leading the stage. Team-mate Lars Boom was watching:
It all came together again after a few kilometers, but Conti launched another attack—this time on a climb. The Italian gained a lead of over half a minute and didn't lose any time in the descent, and he kept moving well on the flats.
Nothing much happened in the background, prompting this tweet from Journal Velo:
Conti expanded his lead with eight kilometers left to go, and he was never threatened again. The peloton finished almost 34 minutes behind the winner.
Per Stephen Farrand of Cyclingnews.com, Conti always assumed the break could last easily:
"I knew the break would go all the way because we’d taken an enormous gap. I’d picked out today as one to go in the break and it was a good break.
It’s my first win in a Grand Tour. I didn’t have best legs at the start of the Vuelta, and today, but I kept getting better as the day went on and I took my chance in the finale.
"
Saturday's stage will be one of the toughest of this year's race, featuring three first-category climbs and an uphill finish on the special-category Aubisque—one of the legendary climbs of the Pyrenees.
It will be one of the crucial stages of this year's Vuelta and the perfect opportunity for Quintana to increase his lead over Team Sky's Chris Froome ahead of the time trial.
That stage will be followed by one more stage in the mountains and a likely bunch sprint on Monday ahead of the second rest day.
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