Germany’s John Degenkolb won a stage for the third time on the Tour of Spain as he triumphed in a sprint finish on the 166.4km 12th stage around Logrono, while Spain’s Alberto Contador maintained his overall lead on Thursday.
In a reduced sprint due to a crash in the closing stages, Degenkolb added to his victories in the third and fourth stages as he surged to the line ahead of Belgian Tom Boonen and Italy’s Jacopo Guarnieri.
Contador stayed out of trouble to remain 20 seconds clear of compatriot Alejandro Valverde in the general classification with Britain’s 2013 Tour de France winner Chris Froome still 1:20 back in fourth.
Photo: EPA
“I feel great; I was hoping to win, but I wasn’t overconfident,” Degenkolb said.
However, it has not all been plain sailing for the Team Giant-Shimano rider: Degenkolb revealed that he has an infection that had caused him to struggle on Wednesday’s 11th stage from Pamplona to San Miguel de Aralar.
“Yesterday, my leg was hurting and it was really difficult because I have a small infection. It is nothing to worry about, though, and you just have to overcome it,” he said.
After some demanding mountain finishes and an individual time trial on Tuesday, the forgiving flat 20.8km course around Logrono was a relief for the sprinters.
Austrian Matthias Krizek broke clear in the first 3km on the first of eight laps around the course and was left on his own until the last lap, when the Cannondale rider was caught with 12km to go.
The battle for positioning then began to form, but there was a much smaller bunch sprint than expected, as a crash left the likes of Michael Matthews and Nacer Bouhanni out of contention.
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