German sprinter takes maiden Grand Tour victory as day long breakaway pulled back

John DegenkolbJohn Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) proved to be the fastest sprinter in the peloton at the end of the second stage of the 2012 Vuelta a España, between Pamplona and Viana. The German managed to get the better of both Australian Allan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) and Briton Ben Swift (Team Sky) on the slightly uphill dash for the line; coming around them close to the finish to take his maiden Grand Tour stage victory.

Despite having to come around Swift, Davis managed to get his wheel in front of the Team Sky rider to take second.

“The sprint was pretty fast from the 5-km to go mark until the end,” said Degenkolb in the post-stage press conference. “Two teams tried to organise a real lead out, [Orica-]GreenEdge and my guys from Argos-Shimano, who did a good job to bring me back on when I lost the wheels of Allan Davis and Ben Swift.

“Koen de Kort put me back in the game and it was a sprint between three riders,” he explained. “In the end I was the strongest.”

“Our goal was to win minimum one stage,” the German continued. “We already got the minimum; it takes pressure away from us. We’ll try to survive the hard stages, tomorrow and the day after, and until the first rest day, we’ll have more opportunities to sprint for the win.

The rising road to the line was not a typical sprint finish, but it suited Degenkolb’s characteristics and he managed to overcome Davis and Swift, who had both been ahead of him.

“The last 400 or 500 metres were slightly uphill from the last roundabout,” Degenkolb explained. “You need power for sprinting in these conditions. That’s what I’m like and that’s what I’m made for. But it’s almost impossible for a sprinter to win alone. We’re one of the best teams in the world to support a sprinter, whether it’s me or Marcel Kittel. I’m happy to be part of Argos-Shimano.”

The 181.4km stage was characterised by a long breakaway from Javier Chacon (Andalucía), Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural) and Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha). They escaped after just six kilometres, in the company of Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step). The Movistar Team of race leader Jonathan Castroviejo was unwilling to allow such a dangerous rider to get away and threaten the red jersey with the time bonuses available on the course, so the Dutch champion dropped back and allowed the other three to go clear.

The three man group managed to open a maximum lead of five minutes before Movistar began to steadily pull them back. Chacon was dropped with 25km to go, and the other two were finally picked up inside the final twelve kilometres.

There was a late attack from Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM), and the Uzbekistan champion managed to get 11 seconds clear with five kilometres to go, but he was picked up shortly after the four kilometre banner by Orica-GreenEdge. There then followed a battle for supremacy between the sprinters’ teams, with Degenkolb eventually coming out on top.

Finishing safely in the peloton, and with none of his overall rivals able to take any time bonuses, Castroviejo held on to his overall lead, ahead of four of his teammates who occupied the same time.

Four riders go early but one of them is too dangerous to let go

After an initial move of 14 riders was unable to get away, Chacon, Aramendia and Ignatiev escaped after just six kilometres. They were initially joined by Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), but since the Dutch champion was just ten seconds down on Castroviejo overall – and so had a chance of stealing the red jersey at the two intermediate sprints – the Movistar team began to pull the group back before it could gain too much time.

Realising this, Terpstra sat up and Movistar relaxed, which allowed the remaining three to build themselves a lead. Although Katusha had finished just 15 seconds behind Movistar in the previous day’s team time trial, Ignatiev had been dropped and lost 2’02” at the finish, which meant that Chacon was the best placed of the breakaway trio, 1’01” behind.

Ignatiev took the first intermediate sprint, in Tafalla after 59km, ahead of Chacon and Aramendia, as the trio’s advantage topped five minutes for the first time. Aramendia beat Chacon to the line at the top of the 3rd category Alto de la Chapela after 77km, but was adjudged to have sprinted irregularly and the race commissaires awarded the points to the Andalucía rider.

With with no more climbs on the day’s schedule, this meant that Chacon would pull on the first mountains jersey at the end of the stage.

As Movistar led the peloton over the top, the gap had reduced to 3’45”, and it gradually fell as the race leader’s team unhurriedly reeled them in. With 50km to go it had dropped to just 2’02”, and the catch was now almost inevitable; the Movistar team was not keen to see the three riders too quickly however, and allowed it to drift out again.

The finish is coming and the sprinters aren’t going to miss their chance

Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank was the team to take up the chase as the last 30km of the stage approached, taking the lead back down below two minutes, then – as Team Sky moved forward – less than one with 25km to go. With 24km to go Ignatiev accelerated on on one of the numerous unclassified lumps on the rolling approach to the finish and Chacon was dropped.

The two others continued their efforts as the Caja Rural rider drifted back to the peloton, but they were just 50 seconds clear with 20km still to race. Ignatiev led Aramendia over the second intermediate sprint with 18.9km to go, with 2008 race winner Alberto Contador taking third place, cheekily picking up the final two bonus seconds.

As they crossed the finish line shortly afterwards, to the start the 18.1km finishing loop, the two riders were still 39 seconds clear. There was little they could to however, having been in the lead for more than 150km, and they were finally pulled in with just under 12km to go.

Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank then pulled forward, but Katusha – having sat in all day with Ignatiev up the road – soon took over. Omega Pharma-Quick Step then hit the front but, on a drag with 6.5km to go, Lagutin put in a big attack. The Uzbek champion was eleven seconds clear with five kilometres to go, but was calmly pulled back by Orica-GreenEdge just after the 4km banner.

Argos-Shimano, then RadioShack-Nissan tried to take control from Orica-GreenEdge, but the Australian team was not willing to give up the head of the peloton and pulled it into the final kilometre. On the slightly uphill sprint Swift took the front early, but Davis was gradually pulling past him as the line approached; Degenkolb finally launched his own sprint however, and passed them both to take his maiden Grand Tour stage.

Vuelta a España (WorldTour) stage 2: Pamplona – Viana:

1, John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 181.4 kilometres in 4 hours 38 mins 40 secs
2, Allan Davis (Orica – GreenEdge)
3, Ben Swift (Sky Procycling)
4, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale)
5, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
6, Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto Belisol Team)
7, Davide Cimolai (Lampre – ISD)
8, Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol Team)
9, Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Caja Rural)
10, Daniele Bennati (Radioshack-Nissan)
11, Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
12, Koldo Fernandez (Garmin – Sharp)
13, Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
14, Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank Cycling Team)
15, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Andalucia)
16, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Big Mat)
17, Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
18, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale)
19, Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
20, Yohann Bagot (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
21, Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana Pro Team)
22, Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
23, Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar Team)
24, Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Movistar Team)
25, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
26, Andrey Kashechkin (Astana Pro Team)
27, Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team)
28, Maciej Paterski (Liquigas-Cannondale)
29, Christopher Froome (Sky Procycling)
30, Raymond Kreder (Garmin – Sharp)
31, Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
32, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale)
33, Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
34, Matti Breschel (Rabobank Cycling Team)
35, Gatis Smukulis (Katusha Team)
36, Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Andalucia)
37, Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
38, Koen De Kort (Argos-Shimano)
39, Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Caja Rural)
40, Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre – ISD)
41, Damiano Cunego (Lampre – ISD)
42, Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Movistar Team)
43, Marcos Garcia (Caja Rural)
44, Andrey Zeits (Astana Pro Team)
45, Andrew Talansky (Garmin – Sharp)
46, Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin – Sharp)
47, David De La Fuente Rasilla (Caja Rural)
48, Cameron Meyer (Orica – GreenEdge)
49, Morris Possoni (Lampre – ISD)
50, Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol Team)
51, Tiago Machado (Radioshack-Nissan)
52, Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol Team)
53, Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Movistar Team)
54, Jan Bakelants (Radioshack-Nissan)
55, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
56, Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team)
57, Assan Bazayev (Astana Pro Team)
58, Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas-Cannondale)
59, Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team)
60, Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
61, Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana Pro Team)
62, Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas-Cannondale)
63, Alexandre Geniez (Argos-Shimano)
64, Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
65, Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team)
66, Pieter Weening (Orica – GreenEdge)
67, Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
68, Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Liquigas-Cannondale)
69, Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Sky Procycling)
70, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
71, Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
72, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank Cycling Team)
73, Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale)
74, Grischa Niermann (Rabobank Cycling Team)
75, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
76, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
77, Maxime Monfort (Radioshack-Nissan)
78, Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
79, Robert Gesink (Rabobank Cycling Team)
80, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
81, Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale)
82, Nico Sijmens (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
83, Linus Gerdemann (Radioshack-Nissan)
84, Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale)
85, Winner Anacona Gomez (Lampre – ISD)
86, William Bonnet (FDJ-Big Mat)
87, Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
88, Rafael Valls Ferri (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
89, Igor Anton (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
90, Xavier Florencio Cabre (Katusha Team)
91, Denis Menchov (Katusha Team)
92, Ian Stannard (Sky Procycling)
93, Romain Sicard (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
94, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
95, Gabriel Rasch (FDJ-Big Mat)
96, Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team)
97, Thomas Peterson (Garmin – Sharp)
98, Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
99, Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
100, Tiziano Dall’antonia (Liquigas-Cannondale)
101, Daniele Ratto (Liquigas-Cannondale)
102, Mauro Santambrogio (BMC Racing Team)
103, Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Andalucia)
104, Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank Cycling Team)
105, Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
106, Johan Van Summeren (Garmin – Sharp)
107, Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team)
108, Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
109, John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale)
110, Pavel Brutt (Katusha Team)
111, Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Andalucia)
112, Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
113, Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha Team)
114, Javier Moreno Bazan (Movistar Team)
115, Davide Vigano (Lampre – ISD)
116, Antonio Piedra Perez (Caja Rural)
117, Daniel Navarro Garcia (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
118, Bertjan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
119, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol Team)
120, Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano)
121, Denys Kostyuk (Lampre – ISD)
122, Angel Vicioso Arcos (Katusha Team)
123, Richie Porte (Sky Procycling)
124, Florent Barle (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
125, Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Movistar Team)
126, Hernani Broco (Caja Rural)
127, Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Movistar Team)
128, Michel Kreder (Garmin – Sharp)
129, Daniel Teklehaymanot (Orica – GreenEdge)
130, Dominique Rollin (FDJ-Big Mat)
131, Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
132, Rémi Pauriol (FDJ-Big Mat)
133, Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia)
134, Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano)
135, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
136, Bart De Clercq (Lotto Belisol Team)
137, Cheng Ji (Argos-Shimano)
138, Matteo Tosatto (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
139, Ivan Velasco Murillo (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
140, Rafal Majka (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
141, Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale)
142, Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale)
143, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
144, Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale)
145, Danail Andonov Petrov (Caja Rural)
146, Egor Silin (Astana Pro Team)
147, Laurent Didier (Radioshack-Nissan)
148, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia)
149, Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling)
150, Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Katusha Team)
151, Alberto Losada Alguacil (Katusha Team)
152, Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
153, Imanol Erviti Ollo (Movistar Team)
154, Xabier Zandio Echaide (Sky Procycling)
155, Stef Clement (Rabobank Cycling Team)
156, Marco Marzano (Lampre – ISD)
157, Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia)
158, Frederik Willems (Lotto Belisol Team)
159, Sergio Carrasco Garcia (Andalucia)
160, Markel Irizar Aranburu (Radioshack-Nissan)
161, Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
162, Javier Chacon (Andalucia)
163, Oleksandr Kvachuk (Lampre – ISD)
164, Thomas Dekker (Garmin – Sharp)
165, Julian Dean (Orica – GreenEdge)
166, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
167, Johannes Fröhlinger (Argos-Shimano)
168, Hayden Roulston (Radioshack-Nissan)
169, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ-Big Mat)
170, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ-Big Mat)
171, Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 20 secs
172, Thierry Hupond (Argos-Shimano)
173, Bruno Pires (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
174, Nicki Sörensen (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
175, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Belisol Team)
176, Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team)
177, Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
178, Danny Pate (Sky Procycling)
179, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
180, Simon Clarke (Orica – GreenEdge)
181, Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Sky Procycling)
182, Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team)
183, Aitor Galdos Alonso (Caja Rural) at 25 secs
184, Martijn Maaskant (Garmin – Sharp) at 51 secs
185, Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ-Big Mat)
186, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) at 1 min 8 secs
187, Yukihiro Doi (Argos-Shimano) at 1 min 32 secs
188, Travis Meyer (Orica – GreenEdge)
189, Wesley Sulzberger (Orica – GreenEdge)
190, Grégory Rast (Radioshack-Nissan) at 1 min mins 37 secs
191, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 1 min 49 secs
192, Cristiano Salerno (Liquigas-Cannondale)
193, Mitchell Docker (Orica – GreenEdge) at 2 mins 5 secs
194, Joost Van Leijen (Lotto Belisol Team) at 2 mins 6 secs
195, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) at 3 mins 28 secs
196, Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) at 9 mins 8 secs
197, David Boucher (FDJ-Big Mat) at 12 mins 56 secs

Intermediate sprint at Tafalla (km 59):

1, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 4 pts
2, Javier Chacon (Andalucia) 2
3, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 1

Intermediate sprint at Viana (km 162.5):

1, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 4 pts
2, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 2
3, Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) 1

Mountains:

Category 3, Alto de la Chapela:

1, Javier Chacon (Andalucia) 3 pts
2, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 2
3, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 1

Most combative:

1, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural)

Teams:

1, Omega Pharma – Quickstep, 13 hours 56 mins
2, Lotto Belisol Team
3, Astana Pro Team
4, AG2R La Mondiale
5, Garmin – Sharp
6, Lampre – ISD
7, Movistar Team
8, Liquigas – Cannondale
9, Caja Rural
10, Sky Procycling
11, Team Argos – Shimano
12, Rabobank Cycling Team
13, Radioshack – Nissan
14, Orica Greenedge
15, Cofidis, le credit en ligne
16, BMC Racing Team
17, Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team
18, Euskaltel – Euskadi
19, Andalucia
20, FDJ – Big Mat
21, Katusha Team
22, Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank

General classification after stage 2:

1, Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar Team) 4 hours 57 mins 31 secs
2, Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Movistar Team) at 1 secs
3, Javier Moreno Bazan (Movistar Team)
4, Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Movistar Team)
5, Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Movistar Team)
6, Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Movistar Team) at 4 secs
7, Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank Cycling Team) at 10 secs
8, Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
9, Kevin De Weert (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
10, Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team)
11, Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team)
12, Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team)
13, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
14, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank Cycling Team)
15, Robert Gesink (Rabobank Cycling Team)
16, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
17, Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
18, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
19, Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team)
20, Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank Cycling Team)
21, Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
22, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
23, Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol Team) at 12 secs
24, Christopher Froome (Sky Procycling)
25, Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol Team)
26, Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Sky Procycling)
27, Richie Porte (Sky Procycling)
28, Bart De Clercq (Lotto Belisol Team)
29, Rigoberto Uran Uran (Sky Procycling)
30, Xabier Zandio Echaide (Sky Procycling)
31, Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank Cycling Team) at 13 secs
32, Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 14 secs
33, Daniel Navarro Garcia (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
34, Rafal Majka (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
35, Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
36, Denis Menchov (Katusha Team) at 15 secs
37, Pavel Brutt (Katusha Team)
38, Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Katusha Team)
39, Angel Vicioso Arcos (Katusha Team)
40, Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Katusha Team)
41, Alberto Losada Alguacil (Katusha Team)
42, Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol Team) at 17 secs
43, Allan Davis (Orica – GreenEdge) at 25 secs
44, Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Euskaltel – Euskadi) at 28 secs
45, Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
46, Igor Anton (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
47, Romain Sicard (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
48, Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
49, Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel – Euskadi) at 31 secs
50, Jens Debusschere (Lotto Belisol Team) at 32 secs
51, Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Sky Procycling)
52, Cameron Meyer (Orica – GreenEdge) at 33 secs
53, Daniel Teklehaymanot (Orica – GreenEdge)
54, Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana Pro Team) at 34 secs
55, Andrey Kashechkin (Astana Pro Team)
56, Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Astana Pro Team)
57, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale)
58, Assan Bazayev (Astana Pro Team)
59, Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale)
60, John Gadret (AG2R La Mondiale)
61, Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale)
62, Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale)
63, Egor Silin (Astana Pro Team)
64, Bruno Pires (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank)
65, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) at 35 secs
66, Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
67, Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
68, Rafael Valls Ferri (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
69, Tomasz Marczynski (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
70, Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel – Euskadi) at 37 secs
71, Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 41 secs
72, Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Liquigas-Cannondale)
73, Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale)
74, Tiziano Dall’antonia (Liquigas-Cannondale)
75, Daniele Ratto (Liquigas-Cannondale)
76, Bertjan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team)
77, Cristiano Salerno (Liquigas-Cannondale)
78, Imanol Erviti Ollo (Movistar Team) at 45 secs
79, John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) at 47 secs
80, Yohann Bagot (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
81, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
82, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
83, Nico Sijmens (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
84, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
85, Simon Clarke (Orica – GreenEdge) at 53 secs
86, Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre – ISD) at 54 secs
87, Damiano Cunego (Lampre – ISD)
88, Morris Possoni (Lampre – ISD)
89, Winner Anacona Gomez (Lampre – ISD)
90, Marco Marzano (Lampre – ISD)
91, Tiago Machado (Radioshack-Nissan) at 55 secs
92, Jan Bakelants (Radioshack-Nissan)
93, Maxime Monfort (Radioshack-Nissan)
94, Linus Gerdemann (Radioshack-Nissan)
95, Markel Irizar Aranburu (Radioshack-Nissan)
96, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-Big Mat) at 57 secs
97, William Bonnet (FDJ-Big Mat)
98, Gabriel Rasch (FDJ-Big Mat)
99, Rémi Pauriol (FDJ-Big Mat)
100, Koen De Kort (Argos-Shimano) at 59 secs
101, Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano)
102, Johannes Fröhlinger (Argos-Shimano)
103, Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto Belisol Team) at 1 min 0 secs
104, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Andalucia) at 1 min 1 secs
105, Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Andalucia)
106, Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Andalucia)
107, Jesus Rosendo Prado (Andalucia)
108, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia)
109, Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia)
110, Sergio Carrasco Garcia (Andalucia)
111, Javier Chacon (Andalucia)
112, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol Team) at 1 min 5 secs
113, Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 1 min 6 secs
114, Maciej Paterski (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 1 min 7 secs
115, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 8 secs
116, Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale)
117, Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Andalucia) at 1 min 10 secs
118, Frederik Willems (Lotto Belisol Team)
119, Grischa Niermann (Rabobank Cycling Team) at 1 min 12 secs
120, Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) at 1 min 13 secs
121, Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) at 1 min 17 secs
122, Pieter Weening (Orica – GreenEdge)
123, Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)
124, Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 18 secs
125, Koldo Fernandez (Garmin – Sharp) at 1 min 27 secs
126, Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Caja Rural)
127, Marcos Garcia (Caja Rural)
128, Andrew Talansky (Garmin – Sharp)
129, David De La Fuente Rasilla (Caja Rural)
130, Thomas Peterson (Garmin – Sharp)
131, Johan Van Summeren (Garmin – Sharp)
132, Antonio Piedra Perez (Caja Rural)
133, Hernani Broco (Caja Rural)
134, Michel Kreder (Garmin – Sharp)
135, Danail Andonov Petrov (Caja Rural)
136, Florent Barle (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) at 1 min 32 secs
137, Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 35 secs
138, Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana Pro Team) at 1 min 39 secs
139, Daniele Bennati (Radioshack-Nissan) at 1 min 40 secs
140, Frantisek Rabon (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 1 min 47 secs
141, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team) at 1 min 53 secs
142, Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
143, Ivan Velasco Murillo (Euskaltel – Euskadi)
144, Matteo Tosatto (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 1 min 58 secs
145, Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 2 mins 1 secs
146, Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
147, Matti Breschel (Rabobank Cycling Team)
148, Stef Clement (Rabobank Cycling Team)
149, Gatis Smukulis (Katusha Team) at 2 mins 2 secs
150, Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar Team) at 2 mins 3 secs
151, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 5 secs
152, Wesley Sulzberger (Orica – GreenEdge)
153, Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 2 mins 10 secs
154, Nicki Sörensen (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) at 2 mins 18 secs
155, Joost Van Leijen (Lotto Belisol Team)
156, Thierry Hupond (Argos-Shimano) at 2 mins 19 secs
157, Julian Dean (Orica – GreenEdge) at 2 mins 20 secs
158, Laurent Didier (Radioshack-Nissan) at 2 mins 23 secs
159, Hayden Roulston (Radioshack-Nissan)
160, Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team)
161, Aitor Galdos Alonso (Caja Rural) at 2 mins 26 secs
162, Ben Swift (Sky Procycling) at 2 mins 29 secs
163, Yukihiro Doi (Argos-Shimano) at 2 mins 31 secs
164, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 2 mins 32 secs
165, Ian Stannard (Sky Procycling) at 2 mins 33 secs
166, Mauro Santambrogio (BMC Racing Team) at 2 mins 34 secs
167, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ-Big Mat) at 2 mins 43 secs
168, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) at 2 mins 46 secs
169, Andrey Zeits (Astana Pro Team) at 2 mins 47 secs
170, Denys Kostyuk (Lampre – ISD) at 2 mins 52 secs
171, Oleksandr Kvachuk (Lampre – ISD)
172, Danny Pate (Sky Procycling) at 2 mins 53 secs
173, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team) at 2 mins 54 secs
174, Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 2 mins 58 secs
175, Mitchell Docker (Orica – GreenEdge) at 3 mins 2 secs
176, Davide Cimolai (Lampre – ISD) at 3 mins 5 secs
177, Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin – Sharp)
178, Paolo Tiralongo (Astana Pro Team) at 3 mins 7 secs
179, Davide Vigano (Lampre – ISD) at 3 mins 8 secs
180, Cheng Ji (Argos-Shimano) at 3 mins 17 secs
181, Alexandre Geniez (Argos-Shimano) at 3 mins 18 secs
182, Simon Geschke (Argos-Shimano)
183, Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) at 3 mins 25 secs
184, Dominique Rollin (FDJ-Big Mat)
185, Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ-Big Mat)
186, Xavier Florencio Cabre (Katusha Team) at 3 mins 40 secs
187, Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Caja Rural) at 3 mins 42 secs
188, Travis Meyer (Orica – GreenEdge) at 3 mins 47 secs
189, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 3 mins 50 secs
190, Grégory Rast (Radioshack-Nissan) at 4 mins 0 secs
191, Raymond Kreder (Garmin – Sharp) at 4 mins 5 secs
192, Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ-Big Mat) at 4 mins 15 secs
193, Martijn Maaskant (Garmin – Sharp) at 4 mins 27 secs
194, Thomas Dekker (Garmin – Sharp) at 4 mins 31 secs
195, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) at 5 mins 30 secs
196, Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) at 11 mins 24 secs
197, David Boucher (FDJ-Big Mat) at 13 mins 53 secs

Points classification:

1, John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 25 pts
2, Allan Davis (Orica – GreenEdge) 20
3, Ben Swift (Sky Procycling) 16
4, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) 14
5, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team) 12
6, Vicente Reynes Mimo (Lotto Belisol Team) 10
7, Davide Cimolai (Lampre – ISD) 9
8, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 8
9, Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol Team) 8
10, Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Caja Rural) 7
11, Daniele Bennati (Radioshack-Nissan) 6
12, Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel – Euskadi) 5
13, Koldo Fernandez (Garmin – Sharp) 4
14, Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) 3
15, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 3
16, Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank Cycling Team) 2
17, Javier Chacon (Andalucia) 2
18, Alberto Contador Velasco (Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank) 1
19, Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Andalucia) 1

Mountains:

1, Javier Chacon (Andalucia) 3 pts
2, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 2
3, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 1

Combination:

1, Javier Chacon (Andalucia) 129 pts
2, Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Caja Rural) 185
3, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha Team) 206

Teams classification:

1, Movistar Team, 14 hours 14 mins 51 secs
2, Omega Pharma – Quickstep, at 10 secs
3, Rabobank Cycling Team
4, BMC Racing Team
5, Lotto Belisol Team, at 12 secs
6, Sky Procycling
7, Team Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank, at 14 secs
8, Katusha Team, at 15 secs
9, Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 28 secs
10, Orica Greenedge, at 33 secs
11, Astana Pro Team, at 34 secs
12, AG2R La Mondiale
13, Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team, at 35 secs
14, Liquigas – Cannondale, at 41 secs
15, Cofidis, le credit en ligne, at 47 secs
16, Lampre – ISD, at 54 secs
17, Radioshack – Nissan, at 55 secs
18, FDJ – Big Mat, at 57 secs
19, Team Argos – Shimano, at 59 secs
20, Andalucia, at 1 min 1 secs
21, Garmin – Sharp, at 1 min 27 secs
22, Caja Rural