Cummings Takes Breakaway Win in Vuelta a España Stage 13

BMC’s Steve Cummings scored the biggest win of his career Friday, attacking from a breakaway to win Stage 13 of the Vuelta a España.

It took an hour for an acceptable breakaway to finally form. Seven riders: Linus Gerdemann (RadioShack-Nissan,) Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM,) Simon Clarke and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge,) Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky,) Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale,) and Stephen Cummings (BMC) opened a gap of a little over four minutes on the hilly road.

Argos Shimano did almost all the chasing, with a little help from Lotto-Belisol. None of the General Classification Contenders cared about the stage; Only Argos, with sprinter John Degenkolb, and Lotto, riding for Gianni Meersman, wanted a bunch sprint. Everyone else wanted a rest day before the upcoming three mountaintop finishes.

In the end, Argos alone couldn’t pull back the break, which worked as a unit until the final six kilometers, when Juan Antionio Flecha attacked. Cummings caught the Sky rider, then four km from the line, launched his own attack.

Cummings and Orica-GreenEdge’s Cam Meyer are the only two riders in the peloton which still also ride track; for this pair, the 4000-meter pursuit is a regular competition. Meyer took off after the BMC rider; Flecha bridged across and helped Meyer, but Cummings was too fast, crossing the line four seconds ahead of his pursuers.

Cummings told Eurosport that his tactic for the final four km was “just full gas, very hard—the whole day was hard, always with the wind from the head. In the end I played it really well and I had good legs.

“For me to win, I had to win alone because there were fast people in the group—I just tried to wait for a good moment. [Sky’s Juan Antonio] Flecha is very strong—all I could do in that situation was go 100 percent.

“This is my best victory for sure. I’ve had a very difficult year so I am very happy.”

Cummings dedicated the win to his team, “for always believing in me and supporting me because it’s been such a tough year.”

Flat finishes are off the menu for the rest of the weekend. Stages 14, 15, and 16 all end atop a mountain and could very well decide the race.

Contador, Valverde, Froome and Rodriguez will be lighting up the hills, while Rabobank’s Robert Gesink will be going all-out to close the gap to the top four.