2012 Vintage Yachting Games – Women's Europe, Venue overview, Wind conditions
The Northern part of Lake Como was reportedly a thermic wind venue. In this time of year the normal situation is that at about 13:00 the Swiss mountains are heated up and a Southern wind hits the racing areas with about 10 to 14 knots. As result of this no races were scheduled in the morning. Unfortunately during the event the temperature in Switzerland was low during the Vintage. Also was the thermal South breeze battling with the gradient wind from the North. As result the actual wind did not came above the 8 knots during the races and was instable at times.


2012 Vintage Yachting Games – Women's Europe, Venue overview, Wind conditions
Campo Bravo has normally a tendency to have a slightly higher wind speed than the two other Campo's this due to the fact that it is more Northern than Charlie so that the Southern thermal breeze is strengthened and that the fact that the lake narrows in front of Dervio.


2012 Vintage Yachting Games – Women's Europe, Races, Summary
In the Europe Female at Campo Bravo only five races could be completed. In the Europe class, Olympic from 1992 – 2004, the female and male event started as one fleet in this Vintage. Of cause they had separate results.


2012 Vintage Yachting Games – Women's Europe, Races, Summary
By the female participants, Janika PULS, Germany, got a lead of 8 points over her opponent Anne-Line LYBGSØ THOMSEN from Denmark. Anna LIVBJERG also from Denmark took bronze. The fourth race was decisive.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash
On April 6, 2012, a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet jet fighter of the United States Navy crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia, after suffering a dual engine failure shortly after take-off on a training flight. The building involved was extensively damaged, but there were no fatalities in the accident.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident
At 12:05 p.m. the twin engined Hornet launched from runway 05R at Naval Air Station Oceana on a heading of 053 degrees,  conducting a scheduled training exercise. Within seconds of becoming airborne the right engine experienced a failure. The crew immediately selected maximum thrust on the left engine, but it too failed.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident
Losing altitude, the crew then began dumping fuel to lighten the stricken aircraft and reduce the risk of fire. When the Hornet reached 50 ft (15 m) altitude above ground level (agl) in a nose high attitude, the pilots ejected. One eyewitness, a former Navy SEAL, spoke with Navy Times. He said, "the pilots ejected at the last possible second in an apparent effort to make sure that the plane would not crash into a nearby school".


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident
The F/A-18 plowed into the Mayfair Mews apartment complex that houses about 100 residents, located less than 3 mi (4.8 km) from the departure end of the runway. Total flight time was 70 seconds.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident, Eyewitness accounts
One eyewitness looked up and saw the low-flying aircraft begin to spray fuel, drenching his pick-up truck. “The nose was up; it almost looked like it was trying to land… It was maybe 80 or 90 yards over top of me… The engines were straining, but there was no smoke coming out of the plane."


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident, Eyewitness accounts
Another noted, “I looked out my window and saw black smoke billowing. There was debris falling in our parking lot. One pilot fell into the apartment complex next to ours. He was all bloody, but conscious.”


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Accident, Eyewitness accounts
A resident said his house started shaking and then the power went out, as he saw a red and orange blaze outside his window. He ran outside, where he saw billowing black smoke and then came upon the pilot as he ran to a friend's home. "I saw the parachute on the house and he was still connected to it, and he was laying [sic] on the ground with his face full of blood", he told a television news reporter. "The pilot said, 'I'm sorry for destroying your house.' "


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Aircraft and crew
The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet with Bu.No . 163452, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106. It was built in 1987 and had approximately 6,500 hours on its airframe. The aircrew consisted of a fleet replacement pilot and an experienced instructor. Both of the pilots were from Virginia Beach, but their identities were not released.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Aftermath
The F/A-18 was completely destroyed, the largest section remaining being the empennage including the two engines. The starboard engine Variable Exhaust Nozzle was fully open, while the port engine's nozzle was closed. The apartment complex suffered heavy damage. Three buildings were destroyed and two were damaged, with least forty apartments left uninhabitable. By mid afternoon the fire had been put out and seven people were sent to a hospital, including the two pilots. Later that evening six of the injured were released from the hospital; one pilot remained, listed as being in fair condition.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Aftermath
Two days after the incident on April 8, the Navy began contacting apartment residents to provide payments for immediate needs. Payments began at $2,300 for an individual resident and increased for additional family members.


2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash, Investigation
According to Navy investigators the cause of the incident was the failure of both F404-GE-402 engines. A leak caused fuel to enter the right engine's intake, starting a fire. The crew shut down that engine according to proper procedure. As the Pilot in command increased thrust on the left engine it too failed due to an unrelated concern, when its afterburner didn't light. According to Rear Adm. Ted Branch "We have never had this kind of unrelated dual engine mishap in the F-18, it's the first time it's ever happened with this aircraft."


2012 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team
The 2012 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represented the University of Virginia in the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball season. Head Coach Brian O'Connor is in his 9th year coaching the Cavaliers. They are coming off a 2011 season, in which they reached the College World Series.


2012 Virginia Cavaliers football team
The 2012 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cavaliers were led by third year head coach Mike London and played their home games at Scott Stadium. They were members of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team started out 2-0 for the second consecutive season after victories over Richmond and Penn State. The Cavaliers then proceeded to lose six straight games, their longest losing streak since 2009. The team bounced back with impressive victories over NC State and Miami, and then were eliminated from bowl eligibility when North Carolina handed them their seventh loss. The Cavaliers ended the season with a close loss to rival Virginia Tech and finished 4-8.


2012 Virginia Cavaliers football team, Previous season
The Cavaliers went 8–5 in 2011, their first winning season under head coach Mike London. The Cavaliers followed a slow 3–2 start with a 5–2 finish that saw the team win against Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium in November, and halt a three-year skid against Duke. The Cavaliers could not end their drought against Virginia Tech, but finished second in the ACC Coastal Division and third in the ACC overall. They were selected to represent the ACC in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Auburn.


2012 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team
The 2012 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team represented the University of Virginia during the 2012 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the program's 72nd season of existence, their 72nd in NCAA Division I, and their 59th season of playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.


2012 Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer team, Background
The Cavaliers entered the 2012 season after a first round exit from the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship for a second straight year, as well as a defeat in the semifinals of the 2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament. It was the second straight season of failing to win any conference or NCAA soccer tournament since their triumph in 2009.


2012 Virginia Destroyers season
The 2012 Virginia Destroyers season was the second and final season for the United Football League franchise and the fourth in the combined history of the Destroyers and its predecessor, the Florida Tuskers.


2012 Virginia Destroyers season, Personnel, Roster
Rookies in italicsRoster updated October 19, 201250 Active, 5 Inactive


2012 Virginia Tech Hokies football team
The 2012 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by 26th year head coach Frank Beamer and played their home games at Lane Stadium. They were a member of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Russell Athletic Bowl where they defeated Rutgers in overtime.


2012 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Rankings
Entering the 2012 season, Virginia Tech was ranked No. 16 in the AP and No. 20 Coaches' Preseason Polls. The Hokies rose all the way to No. 13 by Week 3, before dropping out of the polls completely after a 35-17 loss to Pitt.


2012 Virginia ballot measures
The 2012 Virginia State Elections took place on Election Day, November 6, 2012, the same day as the Presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections in the state. The only statewide elections on the ballot were two constitutional referendums to amend the Virginia State Constitution. Because Virginia state elections are held on off-years, no statewide officers or state legislative elections were held. Both referendums were referred to the voters by the Virginia General Assembly.


2012 Virginia ballot measures, Question 1
The amendment amended Section 11 of Article I of the state constitution to prohibit eminent domain from being used for private enterprise, job creation, tax revenue generation or economic development, thereby restricting it to only being invoked to take private land for public use. The measure was part of a political response to the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, which approved the use of eminent domain to seize private property for private uses that had public benefit. It was sponsored in Virginia House of Delegates by Del. Robert B. Bell. After passing the General Assembly twice, in accordance with state law, it was put before the voters. It was supported by controversial Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and the Virginia Farm Bureau, and opposed by The Washington Post editorial board.


2012 Virginia ballot measures, Question 2
The amendment amended Section 6 of Article IV of the state constitution to allow the General Assembly to vote to delay the start of its veto session by up to one week, with the intention of avoiding conflict with religious holidays such as Passover and Holy Week.


2012 Visit Panamá Cup
The 2012 Visit Panamá Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Panama City, Panama between 2 and 8 July 2012.


2012 Visit Panamá Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Visit Panamá Cup – Doubles
Júlio César Campozano and Alejandro González won the first edition of the tournament, defeating Daniel Kosakowski and Peter Polansky 6–4, 7–5 in the final.


2012 Visit Panamá Cup – Singles
Rogério Dutra da Silva won the first edition of the tournament against Peter Polansky 6–3, 6–0 in the final.


2012 Vissel Kobe season
The 2012 Vissel Kobe season is Vissel Kobe's sixth consecutive season and 15th overall in J. League Division 1. Vissel Kobe are also competing in the 2012 Emperor's Cup and 2012 J. League Cup.


2012 Vissel Kobe season
As of 2011, Kobe is the only top division club to never win any major honour (their promotions have always been as runners-up or below, and they have never won the Emperor's Cup, J. League Cup or Shakaijin Cup).


2012 Viva World Cup
The 2012 VIVA World Cup was the fifth VIVA World Cup, an international tournament for football open to non-FIFA-affiliated teams, played in the Iraqi Kurdistan. It marked a new record in the competition's history, with nine teams competing for the Nelson Mandela Trophy, from 4 to 9 June. Al Iraqiya signed a television rights agreement with the NF-Board and the Kurdistan Football Association to broadcast all the matches.


2012 Viva World Cup squads
The 2012 VIVA World Cup was an international football tournament held in Iraqi Kurdistan from 4–9 June 2012. The 9 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part.


2012 Viva World Cup squads
Players' club teams as of 3 June 2012 – the tournament's opening day.


2012 Vodacom Cup
The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, as well as an invitational team, the  Pampas XV from Argentina.


2012 Vodacom Cup, Competition
There were fifteen teams participating in the 2012 Vodacom Cup competition. These teams were geographically divided into two sections - the Northern Section (with seven teams) and the Southern Section (with eight teams). Teams played all the teams in their section once over the course of the season, either at home or away.


2012 Vodacom Cup, Competition
Teams received four log points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus log points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2012 Vodacom Cup, Competition
The top four teams in each section qualified for the title play-offs. In the quarter finals, the teams that finished first in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished fourth in that section and the teams that finished second in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished third in that section. The winners of these quarter finals then played each other in the semi-finals, with the higher placed team having home advantage. The two semi-final winners then met in the final.


2012 Vodacom Cup, Teams, Team listing
The following teams took part in the 2012 Vodacom Cup competition:


2012 Vodacom Cup, Players
The following players took part in the 2012 Vodacom Cup.


2012 Vodacom Cup, Top scorers
The following sections contain only points and tries which have been scored in competitive games in the 2012 Vodacom Cup.


2012 Vojvodina provincial election
Provincial elections were held in Vojvodina in May 2012. The first round was held on 6 May, while the second round was held on 20 May.


2012 Volkswagen Challenger
The 2012 Volkswagen Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on carpet courts. It was the 19th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2012 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Wolfsburg, Germany between 20 and 26 February 2012.


2012 Volkswagen Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Volkswagen Challenger, Champions, Doubles
Laurynas Grigelis /  Uladzimir Ignatik def. Tomasz Bednarek /  Olivier Charroin, 7–5, 4–6, [10–5]


2012 Volkswagen Challenger – Doubles
Matthias Bachinger and Simon Stadler were the defending champions but Bachinger decided not to participate. Stadler plays alongside Travis Rettenmaier, losing in the first round. Laurynas Grigelis and Uladzimir Ignatik won the title 7–5, 4–6, [10–5] in the final against Tomasz Bednarek and Olivier Charroin.


2012 Volkswagen Challenger – Singles
Ruben Bemelmans was the defending champion but decided not to participate. Igor Sijsling defeated Jerzy Janowicz 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(11–9) in the final.


2012 Volleyball Copa Latina
The 2012 Copa Latina was the fourth edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament, organized by the Peruvian Volleyball Federation and Frecuencia Latina, played by four countries from March 31 – April 2, 2012 in Coliseo Eduardo Dibos, Lima, Peru.


2012 Volleyball Copa Latina, Round-robin
This edition of the tournament featured only a round-robin system of matches. The team with the most points at the end of the round was declared the winner.


2012 Volta Limburg Classic
The 2012 Volta Limburg Classic was the 39th edition of the Volta Limburg Classic cycle race and was held on 31 March 2012. The race started and finished in Eijsden. The race was won by Pavel Brutt.


2012 Volta a Catalunya
The 2012 Volta a Catalunya was the 92nd running of the Volta a Catalunya cycling stage race. It started on 19 March in Calella and ended on 25 March in Barcelona, and consisted of seven stages. It was the fifth race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.


2012 Volta a Catalunya
The race was won by Switzerland's Michael Albasini of GreenEDGE, after winning the first two stages of the race and maintained his advantage all the way to the end of the race. Albasini won the general classification by 90 seconds over runner-up Samuel Sánchez of the Euskaltel–Euskadi team. Third place was taken by Lotto–Belisol's Jurgen Van den Broeck, after thirteen riders finished the race with a deficit of 92 seconds to Albasini; Van Den Broeck recorded the lowest cumulative score for his stage positions, and as a result, was placed highest of the group of riders. In the race's other classifications, Tomasz Marczyński of Vacansoleil–DCM won the white jersey for the most points gained in intermediate sprints, while Team Saxo Bank rider Chris Anker Sørensen won the King of the Mountains classification, and Garmin–Barracuda finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Teams
As the Volta a Catalunya was a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to send a squad. Five other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 23-team peloton.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
Following an early, yet unsuccessful, attack from Cédric Pineau of FDJ–BigMat, a quintet of riders – GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini, Ag2r–La Mondiale rider Ben Gastauer, Timmy Duggan of Liquigas–Cannondale, Cofidis's Nicolas Edet and Saur–Sojasun rider Anthony Delaplace – made the primary breakaway from the field, just as they moved into the village of Arbúcies for the first intermediate sprint of the race.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
The five riders managed to extend their advantage over the main field to in excess of six minutes at one point during the stage, which was run in largely dry conditions apart from the second categorised climb – of three during the stage – of the first-category Coll Formic, where the riders were met by wet conditions with hail also falling.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
The breakaway's advantage had been cut to around three and a half minutes as the main field moved over the climb at Coll Formic, but the quintet managed to put more time into the pack, after their pace relented slightly. Their gap almost topped four minutes once again, before Astana and the Movistar Team forced the cause from the field, and again the time between the groups dwindled.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
By the time that the field had reached the final climb of the day, the Alt de Collsacreu. At this moment, Albasini stepped up his pace, soloed off the front of the gruppetto and quickly distanced himself from his four companions, who had split into two groups of two riders. At first, Delaplace and Edet tried to stay with Albasini, but could not; while Duggan and Gastauer decided not to follow the French duo, and would try to fend off the main field if they could.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
RadioShack–Nissan picked up the reins on the front of the peloton, and looked to close in on Duggan and Gastauer, who had fallen around a minute behind Albasini with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining. Albasini remained well clear into Calella and eventually claimed his first victory for the GreenEDGE team, and the team's second in three days after Simon Gerrans' win in Milan–San Remo the previous Saturday. As well as leading the general classification, Albasini held the lead of the mountains classification, after leading over two of the three climbs.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
Delaplace finished second, 42 seconds in arrears, after dropping Edet in the closing kilometres; Edet finished around half a minute later in third place. The peloton was not far behind; led over the line 18 seconds later by Vacansoleil–DCM's Kenny van Hummel, after Duggan and Gastauer – the only rider to be passed by van Hummel – were caught in the finishing straight.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
Three riders – Andalucía's Jordi Simón, Caja Rural rider Julián Sánchez and Cyril Bessy of Saur–Sojasun – advanced clear of the main field after 12 km (7.5 mi) of the stage, and managed to extend their advantage to a maximum of over seven minutes at one point during the early running of the stage. Noting the peloton's inability to recapture the entire breakaway on the opening stage, GreenEDGE established themselves on the front of the pack; protecting their overall leader Michael Albasini from losing any potential time on the road.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
As such, by the time the race had reached the mid-stage feeding area, the trio out front only held a lead of around two minutes over the advancing peloton. Movistar Team's Alejandro Valverde took a tumble as the race was passing through; his front wheel hit a discarded drinks bottle, and crashed into a kerb. He would ultimately lose over two minutes on the day, after failing to make the junction back to the field.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step then assumed the leadership of the peloton, looking to help with Levi Leipheimer's bid for the overall race as a whole; in a reverse to what occurred at Paris–Nice earlier in the month where Movistar Team initiated the pace when Leipheimer fell three times during the penultimate stage. The breakaway's gap out front quickly dwindled, and were caught with over 40 km (24.9 mi) left to travel in the stage.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
This allowed for the Alt dels Angels, a first-category climb 14 km (8.7 mi) from the end, to take a greater presence in the stage's running, increasing the chances of riders going off the front to attack. After Leipheimer and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) made failed bids to get away, three riders – Lampre–ISD's Damiano Cunego, Garmin–Barracuda rider Dan Martin and Matteo Carrara of Vacansoleil–DCM – went clear on the descent and held station off the front until the closing stages.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 2
A reduced peloton contested the sprint in Girona; Bradley Wiggins tried to set the sprint up for his Team Sky team-mate Rigoberto Urán, but Albasini surprised the field by accelerating clear in the finishing straight and picked up his second successive stage victory. Urán finished third behind Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Dario Cataldo.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
Originally scheduled to be held over 210.9 km (131.0 mi) from La Vall d'en Bas to Port Ainé, the race's queen stage was shortened to 154.2 km (95.8 mi) due to snow on the hors-categorie climbs of the Port del Cantó and the finish climb at Port Ainé. As such, both climbs were removed from the itinerary, and the stage finish was moved to Canturri, on the lower slopes of the Port del Cantó.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
This occurred after the start of the stage, which had commenced in cold, wet conditions; several riders elected not to take the start including Movistar Team's Alejandro Valverde after his stage 2 crash, and Team Saxo Bank rider Daniel Navarro, who had been ill for the previous week. An early crash, inside the opening 10 km (6.2 mi) of the parcours, saw several riders hit the ground, including Liquigas–Cannondale's Ivan Basso, GreenEDGE rider Julian Dean and František Raboň of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step. All three abandoned, with Dean later taken to hospital in Valencia for surgery, after breaking his leg in a collision with a parked car.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
The stage's primary breakaway commenced forming at the 17 km (10.6 mi) mark, on the ascent of the first climb, the first-category Alt de Coubet. Team Saxo Bank's Chris Anker Sørensen went clear with BMC Racing Team rider Johann Tschopp before they were joined on the descent by Janez Brajkovič of Astana. This trio were eventually by another nine riders from two distinct groups, with the best-placed of these riders being Mickaël Cherel (Ag2r–La Mondiale) – who after two solid finishes in the opening two stages of the race – in third position in the general classification.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
The break quickly extended their gap to the main field, reaching a maximum of nigh on eleven minutes at the 123.5 km (76.7 mi) point of the stage. The inclement weather failed to relent, forcing organisers to deploy snow-clearing machinery at the finish, in a bid to run the stage at its full length. Ultimately, their bid to do so was futile as race organisers could not guarantee a safe finish into Port Ainé, a ski station in the Pyrenees.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
The finish was moved to a point on the lower slopes of Port del Cantó, and thus eliminating any opportunity for the main field to contest for the stage victory; the twelve-man breakaway were just 10 km (6.2 mi) away from the point as the decision was made to do so.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
With the finish marked out by just a solitary line on the road, Brajkovič won the sprint for the line ahead of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Michał Gołaś and Matteo Carrara of Vacansoleil–DCM. The peloton came across the line around eight minutes later, having cut into the lead in the false hope that the stage would run its full parcours. Several hours after the stage was completed, it was announced that the timings would not count towards the general classification, but points towards the mountains and sprints classifications would count.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
This meant that – while losing the lead of the mountains classification to Sørensen – GreenEDGE rider Michael Albasini maintained his 92-second advantage at the head of the race, and also assumed the lead of the sprints classification after previous leader Anthony Delaplace (Saur–Sojasun), like 32 other riders, abandoned during the stage. Among the other abandonments were Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte of Team Sky, BMC Racing Team rider Tejay van Garderen and RadioShack–Nissan trio Andy Schleck, Ben Hermans and Tiago Machado.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
The announcement of neutralising the time gaps came as no surprise to many of the riders and team members. Stage winner Brajkovič described the stage and its conditions as the "hardest day of his life", while runner-up on the day Gołaś noted that it was not until he saw race officials that he knew where the finish of the stage was. Race leader Albasini's team director at GreenEDGE, Neil Stephens, also described the announcement as a fair decision, having encountered a similar situation during the 1995 running of the event, when he was riding for the ONCE team.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
Fellow team director José Azevedo (RadioShack–Nissan) was more frank with his comments; he expressed dismay at the late nature of being told about the stage's shortening, and anger at other riders for failing to wait for crashed riders in the early stages. The order of riders placed 3rd to 7th were subsequently revised on the UCI's official results service, but as of May 2012 remained unchanged on the event organisers' site.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
Following on from the tumultuous third stage, the fourth stage began without two of the overnight top ten riders in the general classification. Fifth-placed Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ–BigMat) failed to start the stage due to a knee injury, as a result of a crash during the third stage. He was joined on the sidelines by eighth-placed Jakob Fuglsang of RadioShack–Nissan, who fractured his scaphoid on the same stage and as a result had to abandon the race on his 27th birthday.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
The stage itself was also delayed from its original start time after five teams were snowed in on the Port Ainé, following yesterday's racing. Once the stage commenced, Caja Rural rider Julián Sánchez made it into the breakaway for the second time in three days, with Andalucía represented once again, this time through Jesús Rosendo; and the breakaway was completed by Belgium's Romain Zingle, riding for the Cofidis team.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
The breakaway trio's maximum advantage over the main field came early on in the stage; after 17 km (10.6 mi), they held a lead of almost five minutes, but that was quickly whittled down, and by the time the trio entered the finishing circuit in Ascó for the first of two 28 km (17.4 mi) laps – not including the closing 1.7 km (1.1 mi) run-in – the gap was around two-and-a-half minutes.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
The trio were caught by a gruppetto of around 25 riders in the proximity of the climb of the Coll de Paumeres; Zingle on the ascent, and Rosendo and Sánchez on the descent. After an original move of two riders who tried to go clear after that, Levi Leipheimer of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step and Liquigas–Cannondale's Sylwester Szmyd counter-attacked and went clear.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
They were joined by four other riders, and pretty much stayed clear to the end; they were caught in the final 500 m (1,600 ft), but Rigoberto Urán (Team Sky), Denis Menchov of Team Katusha, Szmyd and Cofidis rider David Moncoutié had enough in reserve to take out the top four places on the stage. Michael Albasini once again retained the leader's jersey; continuing to hold his 92-second lead over fellow Swiss rider Steve Morabito of BMC Racing Team, who moved up from fourth after Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin–Barracuda and Ag2r–La Mondiale's Mickaël Cherel both lost time.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
Mini-attacks set the course for the stage as the field remained as one, for much of the first half of the stage. It was not until after 85 km (52.8 mi) that the stage's primary breakaway had been formed. Six riders – BMC Racing Team rider Mathias Frank, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Kristof Vandewalle, mountains classification leader Chris Anker Sørensen of Team Saxo Bank, Vacansoleil–DCM rider Tomasz Marczyński, Caja Rural's Marcos García and Nicolas Edet of Cofidis – originally managed to breach the confines of the field, and set off in a bid to extend a substantial advantage of the main field.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
Javier Ramírez of Andalucía also went clear of the main field, but could not catch up to the sextet out front, and was eventually pulled back by the peloton. At the intermediate sprint, coming after 108 km (67.1 mi) in Santa Coloma de Queralt, the breakaway held a lead of seven-and-a-half minutes over the peloton.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
That gap was reduced as several teams picked up the pace on the front of the peloton; with 50 km (31.1 mi) remaining of the stage, the breakaway group held an advantage of five minutes over the rest of the field, and the time gap was reducing at a rate of a minute per 10 km (6.2 mi).


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
By the time the race had reached the second, and final, climb of the day, the Alt de Montserrat, the gap had been more than halved down to a gap of 2' 10". Frank attacked on the climb, and took Sørensen, Edet and García with him, but with the peloton closing ever nearer, the chances of a successful breakaway diminished. In fact, the four remaining breakaway riders held a lead of just 23 seconds at the top of the climb, and were eventually caught on the descent.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
Damiano Cunego (Lampre–ISD) and Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step both tried to push clear of the reduced group of elite contenders, but were both closed down not long after. Cunego's luck was against him also, as he punctured close to the finish. He managed to recover back to the group, not losing time overall.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step tried to set up the finish for one of their riders, but could do no better than fifth for Dario Cataldo; as Julien Simon took out the victory for the Saur–Sojasun team, while Stage 4 winner Rigoberto Urán (Team Sky) finished second, and Sylwester Szmyd finished third for the second successive stage for Liquigas–Cannondale. Michael Albasini, who finished seventh on the day, maintained his 92-second overall lead for GreenEDGE.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
Just like the previous day's stage, mini-attacks set the course for the early running; at least four separate groups attacked inside the first 40 km (24.9 mi) of the parcours. It was at this point that two riders decided to venture clear of the peloton; French duo David Moncoutié (Cofidis) and Cédric Pineau (FDJ–BigMat) set the tempo off the front, and were chased by several other riders.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
Garmin–Barracuda's Ryder Hesjedal was among those chasing after Moncoutié and Pineau, in the hope of bringing himself back into overall contention, having been as high as second in the overall classification earlier in the week. The group was brought back however, but another French rider, Mickaël Cherel of the Ag2r–La Mondiale team, bridged up to his compatriots and they set about extending their gap over the field; the peloton allowed them to break free, as Cherel was best placed of the riders overall at sixteen minutes down.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
The trio held an advantage of three minutes after 72 km (44.7 mi), when the race took a temporary halt after a police motorcycle collided with a car head-on, on the stage route. Both the occupant of the car and the motorcyclist were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; while the race itself was halted for 40 minutes.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
Once the accident was cleared, the breakaway trio were allowed to leave with their original three-minute advantage, after the peloton had negated their gap through the time that they had been stopped. Their attacking impetus had been stunted however, as they were losing time quickly and were eventually caught prior to the stage's final climb of the day, the Alt de la Conresa.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
Pineau's team-mate Jussi Veikkanen was next to try an attack off the front of the peloton, and despite pressure from the Caja Rural team, he managed to get clear and was later joined by Stage 3 winner Janez Brajkovič of Astana, Cofidis rider Romain Zingle and Project 1t4i's Yann Huguet. The lead quartet pushed on through the final intermediate sprint point in Mollet del Vallès, and managed to hold their advantage onto the Alt de la Conresa. Huguet could not live with the pace that was being set by Brajkovič, but his efforts were ultimately in vain as the main field quickly caught up to them prior to the summit of the climb.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
Having done most of the work on the front, Team Katusha had a rider go clear for a period, but Alberto Losada was brought back very quickly. Ag2r–La Mondiale's Romain Bardet and Francis Mourey, the third FDJ–BigMat rider to make an attempt to get clear, both launched attacks prior to the final finishing circuit in Badalona. They both tried to set themselves up for long solo bids for victory, but the peloton closed them down as soon as they could build an advantage.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
With 3 km (1.9 mi) and the field still together, it had the hallmarks for a bunch sprint; but Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Samuel Sánchez attacked on a slight incline, hoping to achieve a small split in the field and move himself into second place overall behind GreenEDGE's Michael Albasini. Sánchez did just that, as he soloed to the stage victory – his team's first of the season – and a two-second winning margin over the rest of the field, led across the line by Albasini's team-mate Allan Davis and Stage 5 winner Julien Simon of Saur–Sojasun. Albasini finished in the pack to go into the final day with a lead of exactly 90 seconds, while behind Sánchez, thirteen riders were grouped together on the same time, two seconds behind Sánchez.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
The race ended with a short, yet tough, stage into Barcelona; as part of the 119.8 km (74.4 mi) parcours, there were three third-category climbs and a second-category climb, all coming after the 50 km (31.1 mi) mark. Nine riders representing seven teams contributed to the opening move of the stage, as they accelerated off the front of the main field after just 6 km (3.7 mi). Their advantage, however, was always checked by the peloton, instead keeping the gap at a manageable distance.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
As such, the nine riders only held a lead of just over ninety seconds for most of the first half of the stage. Javier Ramírez was the first to summit the Alt d'Ullastrell for Andalucía, while at the second climb, it was Team Katusha's Petr Ignatenko that took the honours on the Castellbisbal.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
The peloton, being led by GreenEDGE and Garmin–Barracuda, closed in yet further on the lead group, with the advantage for the nine out front dropping under the minute mark, as they descended from the Castellbisbal. Ignatenko's team-mate Gatis Smukulis, a stage winner at the 2011 race and Astana's Aleksandr Dyachenko attacked on the second-category Alt de Tibidabo, coming with around 30 km (18.6 mi) left on the stage. After Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) joined them on the climb, Dyachenko went off the front again, and soloed away while his eight breakaway companions were caught.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
Four other attacks occurred on the run-in to Barcelona, with Rabobank's Luis León Sánchez getting the most leeway from the group; holding an advantage of around a minute with 15 km (9.3 mi) to go, but could not survive off the front. Ultimately, it came down to another sprint finish, with in-form Julien Simon taking his second win for Saur–Sojasun in three days, ahead of Francesco Gavazzi of Astana and Lampre–ISD's Damiano Cunego. Michael Albasini finished in the pack to claim the victory, maintaining his 90-second advantage over Samuel Sánchez of Euskaltel–Euskadi.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Classification leadership table
In the 2012 Volta a Catalunya, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a white and green jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2012 Volta a Catalunya, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a white jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 3 at intermediate sprint points during each stage.


2012 Volta a Catalunya, Classification leadership table
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The fourth jersey represented the Catalan rider classification, marked by a blue jersey. This was calculated in the same manner as the general classification, calculated by adding each Catalan cyclist's finishing times on each stage. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.


2012 Volta a Portugal
The 2012 Volta a Portugal is a men's road bicycle race held from 15 to 26 August 2012. It is the 74th edition of the men's stage race to be held, which was established in 1927. A part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, it is rated as a 2.1 event.


2012 Volta ao Algarve
The 2012 Volta ao Algarve was the 38th edition of the Volta ao Algarve cycling stage race. It was held from 15–19 February 2012, and was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.


2012 Volta ao Algarve
The race was won by Australia's Richie Porte, of Team Sky, after taking the overall lead with victory on the third stage, and held the lead to the end of the race. Porte's winning margin over runner-up Tony Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step) – the defending race winner – was 37 seconds, and Porte's team-mate Bradley Wiggins completed the podium, seven seconds behind Martin and 44 seconds down on Porte. In the race's other classifications, Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen won the points classification, Efapel–Glassdrive pairing Sérgio Sousa and Raúl Alarcón won the mountains and sprints classifications respectively, and Team Sky finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Volta ao Algarve, Teams and cyclists
20 teams competed in the 2012 Volta ao Algarve. Among them were 11 UCI ProTour teams, four UCI Professional Continental teams, and five Continental teams.


2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship
The 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship was the 47th Volvo World Match Play Championship played. It was held 17–20 May, with the champion receiving €700,000. The format was 24 players split into eight pools of three, with the top two in each pool progressing to the knock-out stage. It was an official money event on the European Tour.


2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship, Format
The 24 players were split into eight pools of three, with the top two in each pool seeded by their Official World Golf Ranking and the remaining eight randomly assigned to a pool. Within each pool, every player played each other in a round-robin format over 18-hole matches. Points were awarded based upon win (2), tie (1) or loss (0). The two leading players from each pool advanced to the knock-out stage. In case of ties, sudden-death playoffs were used to determine rankings.


2012 Vuelta a Andalucía
The 2012 Vuelta a Andalucía was the 58th edition of the Vuelta a Andalucía, a regional Spanish road bicycle race. It was rated as a 2.1 event and was the 13th race of the UCI Europe Tour. The race was held over 19–23 February.


2012 Vuelta a Andalucía
The race was won by Spain's Alejandro Valverde, of the Movistar Team, after taking the overall lead with victory on the second stage, and held the lead to the end of the race. Valverde's winning margin over runner-up Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) was three seconds, and Saur–Sojasun's Jérôme Coppel completed the podium, five seconds behind Taaramäe and eight seconds down on Valverde. In the race's other classifications, Valverde won the points and combination classifications, Cofidis rider Luis Ángel Maté won both the mountains and sprints classifications, and RadioShack–Nissan finished at the head of the teams classification.


2012 Vuelta a Andalucía, Teams
Sixteen teams participated in the 2012 Vuelta a Andalucía, consisting of seven UCI ProTour teams, eight UCI Professional Continental teams, and one UCI Continental Team.


2012 Vuelta a Asturias
The 2012 Vuelta a Asturias was the 56th edition of the Vuelta a Asturias road cycling stage race, which was held from 27 April to 29 April 2012. The race started in Oviedo and finished at Alto del Naranco. The race was won by Beñat Intxausti of the Movistar Team.


2012 Vuelta a Burgos
The 2012 Vuelta a Burgos was the 34th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos road cycling stage race, which was held from 1 August to 5 August 2012. The race started in Miranda de Ebro and finished at Lagunas de Neila. The race was won by Daniel Moreno of Team Katusha.


2012 Vuelta a Castilla y León
The 2012 Vuelta a Castilla y León was the 27th edition of the Vuelta a Castilla y León cycle race and was held on 13 April to 15 April 2012. The race started in Salamanca and finished in Segovia. The race was won by Javier Moreno.


2012 Vuelta a Colombia
The 62nd edition of the Vuelta a Colombia was held from 12 to 24 June 2012. It was won by the Colombian cyclist Félix Cárdenas.


2012 Vuelta a España
The 2012 Vuelta a España started on 18 August 2012 and was the 67th edition of the race. The race began in Pamplona with a team time trial and ended on 9 September, as traditional, in Madrid. The 2012 edition saw the return of the Bola del Mundo mountain top finish. It was the venue of an exciting battle between winner Vincenzo Nibali and runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera in the 2010 edition. It was the first time since 1994 that the race visited the region of Navarre. The previous time that Pamplona was visited by a Grand Tour in 1996, when the city hosted the finish of a memorable stage of the 1996 Tour de France. On that occasion, the race paid homage to Miguel Indurain by passing through his home village of Villava en route.


2012 Vuelta a España
The race was won for the second time by Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank, taking his first overall victory since returning from a doping suspension. Contador, who won the seventeenth stage of the race after a solo attack, won the general classification by 1' 16" over runner-up Alejandro Valverde of the Movistar Team team.


2012 Vuelta a España
Two-time stage winner Valverde also won two sub-classifications on the final day; by taking a sixth-place finish on the stage into Madrid, he overhauled the points tally of Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) in that classification, and their resultant switch of positions, allowed Valverde to take the combination classification – where the lowest cumulative score across the general, points and mountains classifications wins – as well.


2012 Vuelta a España
Completing an all-Spanish podium, Rodríguez finished the race third overall, 21 seconds behind Valverde and 1' 37" behind Contador, having led the race for 13 days between the fourth and sixteenth stages. Rodríguez also achieved three stage victories, a tally second only to Argos–Shimano sprinter John Degenkolb who won five stages, the most by a German at the Vuelta. Orica–GreenEDGE's Simon Clarke became the second Australian to win the mountains classification in a Grand Tour, while the Movistar Team comfortably won the teams classification.


2012 Vuelta a España, Teams
The 18 UCI ProTour teams were automatically entitled to start the race and were joined by four teams that received a wildcard in April 2012.


2012 Vuelta a España, Teams
For more details, see List of teams and cyclists in the 2012 Vuelta a España.


2012 Vuelta a España, Pre-race favourites
The winner of the 2008 edition of the race, Alberto Contador, made his first Grand Tour appearance since his ban after testing positive for a banned substance at the 2010 Tour de France, and was considered by many the top favourite for overall victory. Another favourite was Chris Froome, who had at the time finished second in the 2011 Vuelta and 2012 Tour de France, and he started the 2012 Vuelta as team leader of Team Sky, having previously worked for Bradley Wiggins. The then winner of the 2011 edition, Juan José Cobo, was looking to replicate his previous year's form after a disappointing 2012 season, and he was co-leader of the Movistar Team alongside Alejandro Valverde.


2012 Vuelta a España, Pre-race favourites
Other contenders for the podium included Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha, who finished second in the 2012 Giro d'Italia, Igor Antón of Euskaltel–Euskadi, Jurgen Van den Broeck of Lotto–Belisol, Damiano Cunego of Lampre–ISD and Robert Gesink of Rabobank.


2012 Vuelta a España, Pre-race favourites
Riders who could have made the top ten included Froome's Colombian teammates at Team Sky, Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao, Rabobank's Bauke Mollema, RadioShack–Nissan's Maxime Monfort, Vacansoleil–DCM's Thomas De Gendt and Ag2r–La Mondiale's Nicolas Roche.


2012 Vuelta a España, Race overview
For details see 2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and 2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21


2012 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership table
There were four main classifications contested in the 2012 Vuelta a España, with the most important being the general classification. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the red jersey; the winner of this classification was considered the winner of the Vuelta. In 2012, there were time bonuses given on mass-start stages; twelve seconds were awarded to the stage winner, with eight for second and four for third.


2012 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awards a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists get points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and is identified with a green jersey. There was also a mountains classification. The organisation categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reach the top of these climbs, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a blue polka dot jersey.


2012 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership table
The fourth individual classification was the combination classification, marked by the white jersey. This classification is calculated by adding the numeral ranks of each cyclist in the general, points and mountains classifications – a rider must have a score in all classifications possible to qualify for the combination classification – with the lowest cumulative total signifying the winner of this competition.


2012 Vuelta a España, Classification leadership table
For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team is the team with the lowest total time. For the combativity award, a jury gives points after each stage to the cyclists they considered most combative. The cyclist with the most votes in all stages leads the classification. For the daily combative winner, the rider in question donned a dossard with a red background, on the following stage.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The 2012 Vuelta a España began on 18 August, and stage 11 occurred on 29 August. The 2012 edition began with a team time trial stage – where each member of a team started together racing against the clock – in Pamplona, Navarre with the race remaining in Spain until the finish to the eighth stage, with a summit finish at the Collada de la Gallina in Andorra. After the ninth stage, the race's first rest day saw the riders travel across Spain by air from Barcelona to Ponteareas; a road stage was followed by the only individual time trial of the race, where each remaining member of the starting peloton of 198 riders competed against the clock.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The Movistar Team were the winners of the race-opening team time trial, recording a time ten seconds quicker than any other squad; their first rider to cross the line, Jonathan Castroviejo, became the first race leader as a result. He maintained his lead through the first mass-start stage the following day – the first of four stage victories for German sprinter John Degenkolb, who also won stages 5, 7 and 10 – but lost the lead following the first summit finish of the race in Eibar.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The rojo jersey remained within the team however, as Alejandro Valverde picked up the race lead after pipping Joaquim Rodríguez in a photo-finish at the stage end. Valverde gave up the lead the following day, after crashing with several other members of his team just as the peloton's pace was being increased by the team on the front, Team Sky. As a result, Valverde apportioned blame to Team Sky, while his team manager, at one point, pulled alongside his opposite number from Team Sky for discussions. Rodríguez assumed the lead of the race then, but held a marginal one-second lead ahead of Chris Froome.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
There were no changes in the classification until another summit finish on the sixth stage, when Rodríguez and Froome were the two contenders for the stage victory. Froome had attacked to bring himself and Rodríguez, but a second attack from Rodríguez brought him clear, and with time bonuses on the line, extended his lead to ten seconds.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
In Andorra, it again came down to the main favourites for the race; for a time, Alberto Contador attacked off the front and maintained a lead of around ten seconds – looking for his first victory since his return from a doping ban – before tying up and Valverde and Rodríguez beat him to the line, with Froome having cracked further back.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
Rodríguez put another twenty seconds into his lead the following day after attacking on the final climb, and his advantage of around a minute prior to the individual time trial was sufficient for him to maintain the lead after the stage; he put in the seventh-fastest time on the stage to keep the leader's jersey, but by only a second from Contador, who moved ahead of Froome in the classification. As a result, Rodríguez topped the overall standings with the more mountainous second half of the Vuelta still to race.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
For the third year in succession, the Vuelta began with a team time trial; on this occasion, it began in the Navarre city of Pamplona, hosting the Vuelta for the first time since 1994 when France's Laurent Jalabert won the thirteenth stage of that year's race. The stage itself was in and around Pamplona, with the final kilometre of the stage following the route of the Running of the Bulls, held as part of the festival of San Fermín the month before.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
Just like the bull-run, the stage finished in the middle of the Plaza de Toros, the city's main bullring. Caja Rural were the first of the race's 22 squads to begin the stage, wearing a different team kit to normal; having received dispensation from the Union Cycliste Internationale, the team wore white and red skin-suits instead of their customary green. However, with a time of 20' 18", the squad ultimately finished the stage in last place.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
The teams entered the 16.5 km (10.3 mi) course at four-minute intervals; Orica–GreenEDGE were the second team in and comfortably lowered the earlier benchmark, recording a time almost a minute quicker. Garmin–Sharp, who won the team time trial in May's Giro d'Italia, were also setting a good time on course before a crash took down three of the team's riders, and delayed Andrew Talansky, the team's main general classification contender. BMC Racing Team were the next team to top the timesheets, setting a time of 19' 01" for the course, which held for some time.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
Rabobank started the stage slowly but a strong second half of the course pulled them into contention for stage honours, and ultimately edged out BMC Racing Team by a small margin. They were followed by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, who also recorded a time of 19' 01 ", despite team members Tony Martin and Grand Tour debutant Zdeněk Štybar being led off course by a motorcycle. However, they were marginally quicker than both Rabobank and BMC Racing Team.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
It was not until the final team to start the stage that the time – and the 19-minute barrier – was beaten. Movistar Team had the honour of starting last due to Juan José Cobo – the winner of the 2011 edition of the race for Geox–TMC – being amongst their nine riders. The team were only two seconds slower than Team Sky to the intermediate time-check, Movistar Team kept their pace up and recorded a time of 18' 51" for the course, to record the first Grand Tour team time trial victory for a Spanish squad in nine years. As the first rider to cross the line, Jonathan Castroviejo assumed the first red jersey of the race for the general classification leader, with four of his teammates in the same time and Cobo in sixth place, having been distanced, by four seconds, in the closing metres.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
The opening road stage of the 2012 Vuelta saw the riders head south from Pamplona, via a loop around Tafalla – where the race's first intermediate sprint point was held – and the first categorised climb, the third-category Alto de la Chapela, before heading towards Viana. In Viana itself, there was an intermediate sprint point on the first passage through the town, before the finish second time around. With most of the 181.4 km (112.7 mi) parcours being flat, it was expected to ultimately result in a sprint finish at the stage end.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Three riders – Spanish pairing Javier Aramendia of Caja Rural and Andalucía rider Javier Chacón, along with Mikhail Ignatiev (Team Katusha) – went clear around 6 km (3.7 mi) after the start of the stage, making the early breakaway from the field, and the trio managed to extend their advantage over the main field to around five minutes. Niki Terpstra had also been a part of the breakaway at one point, but as he trailed overnight leader Jonathan Castroviejo of the Movistar Team by just ten seconds, the breakaway were not allowed to gain a substantial advantage at that point. Terpstra ultimately dropped back into the main field to allow the gap to increase.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Between the lead trio, they swept up most of the available points on offer at the two intermediate sprint positions, while Chacón assumed the first blue-and-white polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification but only after Aramendia was assumed to have sprinted irregularly while crossing the summit of the third-category Alto de la Chapela first.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Having guaranteed a jersey at the end of the day, Chacón dropped back with around 20 km (12.4 mi) remaining, when the gap to the main field was around a minute; Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank) took two bonus seconds for third at the intermediate sprint point in Viana, moving level with his main general classification rival Chris Froome, of Team Sky.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
Ignatiev and Aramendia were brought back several kilometres later, and despite several late attacks, the expected sprint finish materialised where Argos–Shimano sprinter John Degenkolb took his first Grand Tour stage victory, beating Orica–GreenEDGE's Allan Davis and Froome's teammate Ben Swift to the line. Castroviejo maintained his overall lead by finishing with the peloton, although he was not confident of keeping it, while Chacón added the white combination jersey to his mountains lead and Degenkolb took the points lead with his stage win.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Although there were four categorised climbs over the 155.3 km (96.5 mi) parcours, the final climb of the day – the first-category Alto de Arrate – was the key point of the stage. Frequently used in the Tour of the Basque Country stage race held in the spring, the Alto de Arrate climb with a gradient in places at over 11%, crested out with around 2 km (1.2 mi) remaining of the stage, before a false flat to the finish line. With three-time Arrate winner Samuel Sánchez not competing in the Vuelta, Team Katusha's Joaquim Rodríguez – second in Eibar, in 2012 – was regarded as one of the stage favourites along with Movistar Team rider Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
The day's breakaway was made up of eight riders, who all moved ahead of the main field inside the opening 10 km (6.2 mi) of the stage. The octet managed to establish a lead of almost four-and-a-half minutes, despite one of its members – BMC Racing Team's Philippe Gilbert, still winless for the year – being just ten seconds behind the leader of the general classification, Valverde's teammate Jonathan Castroviejo.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
At each of the three categorised climbs prior to the finishing climb, Pim Ligthart of Vacansoleil–DCM took maximum points on offer, leading from Gilbert at two of them, while Nico Sijmens (Cofidis) crossed the third climb, the Puerto de Campazar, behind Ligthart and ahead of Gilbert. The lead group started to splinter with around 20 km (12.4 mi), with the peloton's pace being set by the Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step squads, bringing the gap under a minute.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
The latter team's Niki Terpstra was first to make a move on the Alto de Arrate, but was quickly closed down before he could establish any substantial headway off the front of the peloton. Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank maintained their position at the front, setting the pace for Contador, and were joined at the front by Team Sky. Valverde was the first of the favourites to attack from the rapidly diminishing lead group, with Contador jumping onto his wheel with Rodríguez and Team Sky's Chris Froome eventually rejoining their fellow contenders.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
Contador then launched several more attacks – seven in all – as the lead quartet moved their way up the climb, but each time, the other three riders in the group were able to come back to him. Valverde and Rodríguez contested the sprint for the line, with Valverde taking his sixth career Vuelta stage win in a photo-finish, after Rodríguez free-wheeled in the closing metres; a move that left him furious post-stage. Valverde took the lead in the general, points and combination classifications, while Ligthart took the mountains lead.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Fresh from the punchy finish in Eibar the previous day, the race moved out of the Basque Country and headed towards the ski resort at Valdezcaray; the stage itself finished at the base of the resort – coming at 1,540 m (5,050 ft) above sea level – via a first-category climb of 13.4 km (8.3 mi) in length, at an average gradient of 5.2%, although reaching 9% in places at the lower slopes of the climb. The primary breakaway of the stage was formed early in the stage, when a wave of five riders went clear.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Simon Clarke (Orica–GreenEDGE) was joined in the breakaway by Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Tony Martin and Assan Bazayev of Astana, as well as two riders representing UCI Professional Continental Teams; Luis Ángel Maté for Cofidis and Andalucía rider Jesús Rosendo, with the quintet quickly gaining a substantial advantage over the main field, as they were over nine minutes clear after 28 km (17.4 mi), and eventually established a maximum lead of just under 14 minutes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
With the leaders extending their lead to an insurmountable margin, the general classification contenders were looking to avoid any particular trouble during the parcours of 160.6 km (99.8 mi) in length. However, just after the field had passed through the town of Haro, the crosswinds that had set the course of the day played a factor in a crash. Just as Juan Antonio Flecha had accelerated on the front for Team Sky, most of the Movistar Team hit the tarmac, including the race leader Alejandro Valverde. After the stage, Valverde criticised Team Sky and blamed them for the incident. At one point, Valverde's team manager Eusebio Unzué, pulled up alongside the Team Sky car for a discussion with their sporting director Nicolas Portal.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
The ramping up of the pace had split the peloton into echelons on the road, with as many as five diagonal lines of riders seconds apart from one another. World time trial champion Martin attacked his companions at the bottom of the final climb, and took Clarke with him, as the other three riders could not follow the higher pace. As it transpired, Clarke had the stronger finish, and ultimately took his first professional victory on the line.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
Bazayev finished third, while the peloton came in over a minute behind Clarke; Valverde lost almost a minute beyond that, and surrendered the overall lead to Team Katusha's Joaquim Rodríguez, who held a one-second advantage over Flecha's teammate Chris Froome. Clarke assumed the lead of both the points and mountains classifications.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
Following two consecutive summit finishes, before another one in the succeeding stage of the race, the fifth stage of the race was a circuit race around the city of Logroño in the La Rioja region. Over the 168 km (104.4 mi) itinerary for the stage, a loop of 21 km (13.0 mi) was completed eight times, with intermediate sprint points being held on the Avenida de la Paz, in the city.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
The sprint points were held 400 m (1,300 ft) prior to the conclusion of the third and fifth laps, although it was widely expected that the stage would end up in a sprint finish. Andalucía rider Javier Chacón broke away from the rest of the field almost from the start of the stage, and managed to get clear without the help of a breakaway companion. The main field decided not to follow him closely to begin with, as he was not a factor in the overall classification; over 26 minutes behind overnight leader Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
After a quarter of the stage, Chacón held a maximum lead of almost 12 minutes over the rest of the field, but Argos–Shimano started to lift the pace in the peloton in the long bid to bring back Chacón. With added help from the teammates of Rodríguez, the peloton had reduced Chacón's advantage to around four-and-a-half minutes at the midpoint of the stage. He was ultimately brought back to the main field with just under 30 km (18.6 mi) of the stage remaining.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
The final lap of the circuit saw many of the sprint trains head towards the front of the group; under the flamme rouge, it was RadioShack–Nissan – for Daniele Bennati – and Gianni Meersman's Lotto–Belisol outfit, that were at the head of proceedings with Argos–Shimano close behind. Bennati launched his sprint first, but with help from teammate Simon Geschke, John Degenkolb followed Bennati for a time before sprinting past him and won his second stage of the race by around half a bike length. Meersman completed the top three of the stage results, as Rodríguez maintained his overall lead.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
The sixth stage of the race was a return to the mountains and the emphasis was shifted away from the sprinters to the general classification contenders, in light of the two punchy, categorised climbs within the final 30 km (18.6 mi) of the day's stage. Following a lengthy descent from the third-category climb of the Puerto del Oroel, the riders had to contend with the Fuerte del Rapitán into Jaca; although relatively short at just 3.8 km (2.4 mi) long, the climb had an average gradient of 5.4%.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
After the usual manic start to the day's proceedings on the road, it was a five-rider breakaway that was established at around the 10 km (6.2 mi) point of the stage. The riders in question were either Dutch or Belgian; Garmin–Sharp rider Martijn Maaskant, Joost van Leijen of Lotto–Belisol and Orica–GreenEDGE's Pieter Weening representing the former country, and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Kristof Vandewalle and Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil–DCM) representing the latter.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
De Gendt, who was third at May's Giro d'Italia, was the best-placed rider out of the quintet in 60th place overall overnight, but he trailed the leader Joaquim Rodríguez by over seven minutes. Despite this, the lead group was allowed to establish a maximum lead of over four minutes around two-thirds into the stage, before Rodriguez's Team Katusha squad as well as the Movistar Team team in support of their team leader Alejandro Valverde started to bring them back.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
After van Leijen was dropped with around 25 km (15.5 mi) to go, De Gendt soon set off on his own to attempt a solo bid for victory; ultimately, he was caught before the final climb, after his near 50-second lead was negated. The pace set by the Movistar Team dwindled numbers considerably on the Fuerte del Rapitán before Team Sky moved forward with Columbians Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao to protect Chris Froome.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
After Urán took to the front inside the final kilometre, Froome was first to attack, with only Rodríguez able to respond; Rodríguez himself kicked for the line from 200 m (660 ft) out, and with no response from Froome, he soon moved clear to take his fifth stage win at the Vuelta – having predicted that the climb would make "sparks fly" the previous day – and extended his overall lead to ten seconds over Froome.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
The day's stage was entirely situated within the autonomous community of Aragon, starting in the city of Huesca before heading south towards the outskirts of Alcañiz and the Motorland Aragón circuit, which has hosted several motorsport championship events since being opened in 2009. The finish of the stage itself came on the start-finish straight of the track, having completed almost one lap of the 5.078 km (3.2 mi) circuit.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Despite the parcours of the 164.2 km (102.0 mi) stage being undulating, there were no categorised climbs during the stage, with the day's two intermediate sprint points both coming inside the final 50 km (31.1 mi) of the stage. As a result, the stage was again suited towards the sprinters due to the circuit's wide, sweeping bends.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Four riders – Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural), Andalucía's Pablo Lechuga, Bert-Jan Lindeman of Vacansoleil–DCM and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider František Raboň – provided the breakaway for the day, moving away from the rest of the field after only 2 km (1.2 mi) of racing. They established a maximum advantage of around five minutes in the opening half of the stage, providing no threat to the overall lead of Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) as Lechuga was best-placed at over 26 minutes behind.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
However, Lechuga was the first of the lead quartet to be dropped as the peloton started to bring the leaders back with around 30 km (18.6 mi) remaining. The breakaway was eventually halted halfway towards the finish, and it eventually resulted in a sprint finish at the circuit, despite Team Sky trying to break the peloton, with Chris Froome, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift being part of a six-rider group off the front of the field. Ultimately, points leader John Degenkolb continued his good form in the sprint finishes, taking his third stage victory of the week, after a lead-out from Argos–Shimano teammate Koen de Kort. Rodríguez maintained his overall lead of the race, by ten seconds, over Froome.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
The only stage finish outside of Spain in this year's Vuelta, the eighth stage saw the peloton head north from the start city of Lleida in Catalonia towards the Catalan-speaking microstate of Andorra. After carrying out a loop around the capital Andorra la Vella, via the second intermediate sprint point – the first coming just before the border between Spain and Andorra, in the town of La Seu d'Urgell – and the second-category climb of the Alto de la Comella.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
After several kilometres of descending, the first-category Collada de la Gallina awaited the riders; the 7.2 km (4.5 mi) climb had an average gradient of 8% – with the gradient reaching 15% in certain places of the climbs – while there were also 18 hairpin bends on the climb, drawing comparisons to Alpe d'Huez, where that climb has 21 such corners.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Helped by a tailwind, the peloton covered over 52 km (32.3 mi) in the first hour of racing, and it was not until nearly halfway into the stage that the breakaway for the day was formed.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Six riders – Caja Rural rider Javier Aramendia (for the second day running), Vacansoleil–DCM's Martijn Keizer, Cameron Meyer of Orica–GreenEDGE, Andalucía rider Javier Ramírez, BMC Racing Team's Amaël Moinard and Mickaël Buffaz of Cofidis – went clear and achieved a maximum lead of around nine-and-a-half minutes but hit the bottom of the Collada de la Gallina, with the exception of Keizer and Aramendia, who had been dropped, with a lead of around two-and-a-half minutes over the peloton led by Team Sky. Moinard was dropped in the early stages of the climb, while Meyer launched an attack on his own. Meyer was eventually caught by the top four overall and Daniel Moreno (Team Katusha), who had all broken clear of the main field.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Moreno and Meyer fell away from the group, and it was left to the quartet to battle it out. Froome launched an attack from the front just inside the final kilometre, but was quickly covered by his three Spanish rivals; however, Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank launched his own counter-attack having brought Froome back. He held an advantage of several seconds in the closing stages, but he started to slow within sight of the finish line.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Froome had been left behind by the other two riders in contention – Team Katusha's race leader Joaquim Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde of the Movistar Team – and the pairing caught Contador out of the final corner, with Valverde taking his second stage victory of the race, just ahead of Rodríguez and Contador. Froome crossed the line fifteen seconds in arrears, which combined with eight bonus seconds gained by Rodríguez at the line, gave Rodríguez a 33-second lead over Froome; although Rodríguez remained pessimistic about his chances overall. Valverde took the blue polka-dot jersey for mountains classification leader, by winning the stage.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
The final stage before the race's first rest day saw the riders return to Spanish soil, after its finish in Andorra the previous day. The 196.3 km (122.0 mi) parcours was gradually downhill from the start, except for two third-category climbs along the route; the second of which, came within the final 5 km (3.1 mi) of the stage. With the stage finish in Barcelona, the race returned to the city for the first time since 1999, when a strike by riders over stage conditions reduced the fourteenth stage of that year's race by 50 km (31.1 mi). The finish itself came at Montjuïc – near the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – which was used for the last Grand Tour stage to finish in the city, when Thor Hushovd won the sixth stage of the 2009 Tour de France.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Almost immediately after the peloton rolled out of the start, the breakaway was formed by four riders. For the second day in succession, Cofidis rider Mickaël Buffaz was among the leaders, and he was joined by Vacansoleil–DCM rider Bert-Jan Lindeman, Martijn Maaskant of Garmin–Sharp and, for the third time in the Vuelta, Andalucía's Javier Chacón. They managed to gather up a lead of almost five-and-a-half minutes during the early kilometres of the stage before they were gradually brought back by the main field.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Despite the best efforts by the leaders to prolong their stay out front, they were caught with around 25 km (15.5 mi) remaining. Chacón's teammate Jesús Rosendo went on an immediate counter-attack, but he too could not stay clear over the field. Rosendo ultimately crashed after being absorbed back into the main field, and had to wait for his front wheel to be changed.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Back at the front, the field remained together on the run into Barcelona, with the teams of the general classification contenders – Team Katusha, Team Sky and Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank – heading the field as they did so. Alberto Contador attacked prior to the Alto de Montjuïc, but could not get clear enough for the attack to stick. However, a planned attack by BMC Racing Team's Alessandro Ballan gained more headway, with race leader Joaquim Rodríguez chasing him down.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Ballan's teammate Philippe Gilbert set off in chase of Rodríguez, with the two riders joining together prior to the top of the climb. Gilbert and Rodríguez managed to remain off the front of the field by several seconds, and Gilbert took the stage honours for his first victory of the season, ahead of Rodríguez. With eight bonus seconds on the line, Rodríguez put around twenty seconds into his rivals, with his overall lead over Chris Froome increasing to fifty-three seconds, heading into the rest day.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
Having transferred from the easternmost point of the race, in Barcelona, the Vuelta recommenced after the rest day, in the town of Ponteareas in the west of Spain – a transfer of some 1,200 km (750 mi) in distance, the third-furthest transfer in the race's history – with a near-flat 190 km (118.1 mi) itinerary. There was only one categorised climb during the stage, coming after only 14.5 km (9.0 mi) at the third-category Alto de San Cosme, with its summit coming 400 m (1,300 ft) above sea level. The riders also had to complete a circuit of around 40 km (24.9 mi) before the finish in Sanxenxo. The flat parcours made it ideal for another sprint finish, as Argos–Shimano's John Degenkolb looked to regain the points classification lead from race leader Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
Caja Rural's Javier Aramendia once again took up a position in the breakaway of a stage, and was joined out front by the most combative rider of the 2011 edition of the race, Adrián Palomares, representing the Andalucía team. The duo managed to establish a maximum lead of around seven minutes at one point during the stage, before the rest of the field gradually brought the time gap down. They managed to survive off the front until the finishing circuit, where they were brought back around a quarter of the way around the lap.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
The sprinters' teams moved forward towards the end of the lap, where Vacansoleil–DCM, Team Sky and Argos–Shimano all looked to set it up for their respective sprinters. Ultimately, it was Degenkolb that was able to out-sprint his rivals – despite having to launch his sprint earlier than he wanted – to take his fourth stage victory of the race, becoming the first rider to do so since countryman André Greipel in 2009. Degenkolb finished ahead of FDJ–BigMat's Nacer Bouhanni and RadioShack–Nissan rider Daniele Bennati.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The only individual time trial stage of the Vuelta, the halfway point was marked with an itinerary of 39.4 km (24.5 mi), with the parcours split into three distinct sections; the first section was relatively flat all the way from the start in Cambados, to the intermediate time-check at the 13.5 km (8.4 mi) point of the stage, just outside the town of Barrantes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
The second consisted of a 10 km (6.2 mi) long, 4.4% average gradient climb of the third-category Alto Monte Castrove, where points for the mountains classification were on offer for the top three riders to that point, before the descent down to Pontevedra. As was customary of time trial stages, the riders set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. Thus, Joost van Leijen of Lotto–Belisol, who, in 193rd place – of the 198 riders who started the race – trailed overall leader Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha) by one hour, thirty-eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds, was the first rider to set off on the stage.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Van Leijen was not the first rider to finish the course however, as Rodríguez's teammate Mikhail Ignatiev was the first to do so. Ignatiev, who started three minutes after van Leijen, at one-minute intervals, ultimately recorded a time of 58' 55" for the course, a time which held for around ten minutes until Garmin–Sharp rider Martijn Maaskant lowered the best time by over a minute. Movistar Team's Jonathan Castroviejo was next to hold top spot, beating Maaskant's time by over three minutes as he completed the course in a time of 54' 10".


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
It was not until Cameron Meyer started 45 minutes later for Orica–GreenEDGE that has time was threatened, with the former track world champion eventually recording a time of 53' 53". Meyer's time was good enough to not be beaten by the current world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step), but his countryman Richie Porte did eventually slip underneath that time, moving quickest by just two seconds for Team Sky, before the stage-winning performance was completed by Astana rider Fredrik Kessiakoff. Kessiakoff, the time trial winner at the Tour de Suisse in June, beat Porte's time at the respective time-points, and ultimately beat his time by a minute and a quarter.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Kessiakoff's time of 52' 36" was not breached by anybody else to start the stage, and enabled him to take his second time trial win of the season. In the battle for overall honours, Rodríguez was able to maintain his lead in the general classification standings despite losing time to all of his rivals. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) had been the first of the contenders to start, and he also put in a solid time trial performance with a time of 53' 44", a time that was eventually good enough for fourth on the final stage results.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
Chris Froome (Team Sky) had been expected to win the stage, but could only record a time of 53' 15"; as a result, he lost second place overall to Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank's Alberto Contador, who, apart from Kessiakoff, was the only other rider to record under 53 minutes for the course with a time of 52' 53", 17 seconds down on Kessiakoff. Rodríguez, who thought he would lose his race lead during the stage, managed to hold on by a solitary second after completing the course with the seventh-fastest time of 53' 52", labelling his performance as a "big step forward".


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Stage 12 of the 2012 Vuelta a España was contested on 30 August, and the race concluded with Stage 21 on 9 September. The second half of the race was situated entirely within Spain; starting with a medium mountain stage from Vilagarcía de Arousa to the Mirador de Ézaro in Dumbría, before four summit finishes and, ultimately, the customary race-concluding ride into Madrid.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Having held the lead of the Vuelta since the fourth stage, Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha maintained his lead into the second half of the race. On the twelfth stage, Rodríguez achieved his second stage victory after out-lasting his rivals for the general classification on the steep climb to Mirador de Ézaro in Dumbría, putting another twelve seconds onto his lead over Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank rider Alberto Contador.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
After the breakaway succeeded the following day, Rodríguez achieved another stage victory on the fourteenth stage to the Puerto de Ancares, where the longer climbs started to come into force in the race as part of three summit finishes in three consecutive stages. Similar to the move at the Mirador de Ézaro, Rodríguez accelerated away from his closest competitor, Contador, extending his race lead to 22 seconds. The following day, all attacks were negated, as the breakaway succeeded again; Antonio Piedra took the first victory for Caja Rural at a Vuelta a España, winning the stage by two minutes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Rodríguez and Contador remained together for most of the race's queen stage, the first finish at the Cuitu Negru; on gradients approaching 25% in places, Rodríguez gapped Contador by two seconds, with a four-second time bonus ultimately leaving the gap at twenty-eight seconds post-stage and into the second and final rest day of the race. Following the rest day, Contador turned the advantage around with a surprise attack around midway through the stage. He left his rivals for the overall behind, and soloed to the stage victory.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Rodríguez struggled during the stage, being dropped by another one of the race contenders, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), and fell to third in the overall standings behind Contador and Valverde. Contador maintained the lead of the race until the end, eventually winning the race for a second time by 1' 16" over Valverde. Rodríguez was third, a further 21 seconds behind, with no other rider within ten minutes of Contador at the end of the race. Valverde took final-day victories in the points and combination sub-classifications, with Rodríguez losing the points competition in Madrid for the second year running after losing out to Bauke Mollema in 2011.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
The second half of the race commenced with a rolling stage starting in the Province of Pontevedra at Vilagarcía de Arousa, before it made its way into the Province of A Coruña and an ultimate summit finish at the Mirador de Ézaro. Despite not being the highest point of the stage, the Mirador de Ézaro provided a stern test for the remaining members of the peloton, as the average gradient of the 1.9 km (1.2 mi) long climb was over 13%, with certain sections of the climb reaching 20%, or higher.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
As a result of the short and steep climb, Joaquim Rodríguez, the race leader for Team Katusha, was considered as the main favourite for the stage – along with ninth stage winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) – as he looked to restore some part of a race-leading margin nearly wiped out during the previous day's time trial. Mini-attacks set the course of the early running of the stage, with the field remaining as a whole for most of the first two hours of racing after several attacks were closed down within minutes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
It was not until the 75 km (46.6 mi) mark that an attack was allowed to gain substantial ground off the front of the main field. Four riders – Cameron Meyer of Orica–GreenEDGE, Euskaltel–Euskadi's Mikel Astarloza, BMC Racing Team rider Amaël Moinard and Kevin De Weert, representing the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team – were allowed to freedom to create a lead of over seven minutes during the stage, but were gradually brought back and despite the chasing by the peloton, the lead quartet still held a lead of around half a minute at the bottom of the Mirador de Ézaro.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
Despite an attack by Astarloza's team-mate Igor Antón, Team Katusha were able to set Rodríguez up for his second stage victory of the race, with Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank) coming across the line eight seconds behind, having been the last rider to have been dropped by Rodríguez, to limit his deficit to thirteen seconds after time bonuses had been applied.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Despite its 172.8 km (107.4 mi) parcours being lumpy and undulating, the thirteenth stage was categorised as a stage for one of the sprinters to achieve a victory on, and potentially their last chance of a stage win until the following week as up until the rest day, the following three stages would all have summit finishes. There were two intermediate sprint points during the stages, offering points to the points classification and bonus seconds towards the general classification, coming in A Laracha at 72.5 km (45.0 mi), and in Catabois 5 km (3.1 mi) from the finish in Ferrol.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Ferrol was hosting the race for the first time since 1993, when Djamolidine Abdoujaparov won the penultimate stage of that year's race. Much like the previous day's stage, mini-attacks set the course of the early running, with the field remaining as a whole for most of the first hour of racing after several attacks were closed down within minutes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
However, just after the 40 km (24.9 mi) mark, a group did form and was allowed to make a gap off the front of the field. Seven riders representing six teams – Orica–GreenEDGE were the only squad to have two riders in the group – and achieved a lead of four minutes during the stage, with the peloton unwilling to let the advantage to anything larger. The gap was brought down at a quicker pace than normal, with Argos–Shimano and Lotto–Belisol willing to bring it back for their sprinters John Degenkolb and Gianni Meersman respectively.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
However, the peloton never caught the breakaway during the stage, and after several moves with 5 km (3.1 mi) to go, BMC Racing Team's Steve Cummings made a solo bid for victory with 4 km (2.5 mi) remaining, and remained clear until the end to take his first Grand Tour stage win, and his first victory for the team. Orica–GreenEDGE's Cameron Meyer bested Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) for second place, four seconds behind Cummings, with the peloton led home by Degenkolb finished forty seconds behind Cummings.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The race returned to the mountains for the first of three consecutive summit finishes, that were expected to alter the general classification standings. Instead of the short, punchy climbs that had featured in the race prior to the fourteenth stage, longer climbs were included in the stage's 149.2 km (92.7 mi) itinerary.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
There were five categorised climbs, with the steeper climbs coming towards the end of the stage; inside the final 35 km (21.7 mi) of the stage were two first-category ascents of the Alto Folgueiras de Aigas – averaging 6.7% for its 9.7 km (6.0 mi) length – and the final 9.5 km (5.9 mi) climb of the Puerto de Ancares which averaged 8.1%, but reaching almost 13% in places, en route to the summit at 1,470 m (4,820 ft) above sea level. The climb also contained a downhill section of around a kilometre in length, just after halfway up the climb.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
A four-rider move initially got clear in the opening kilometres of the stage, but they were brought back before 20 km (12.4 mi) of the parcours had been completed. After that, a larger group consisting of sixteen riders, including the four-time defending mountains classification winner David Moncoutié (Cofidis) and fourth stage winner Simon Clarke of Orica–GreenEDGE advanced forward.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
With members of their respective teams in the breakaway as well, Joaquim Rodríguez's Team Katusha squad and the Movistar Team of Alejandro Valverde, sat back in the peloton and allowed Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank and Team Sky to control the pace for their respective protected riders Alberto Contador and Chris Froome. The leaders held a lead of over three minutes at one point, with the break splitting apart on the Alto Folgueiras de Aigas, and on the descent, Alberto Losada – Rodríguez's team-mate in the break – ventured off the front on his own. The peloton had reduced the gap to two minutes by this point, and were continuing to close the gap gradually as they reached the bottom of the final climb of the stage.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank maintained station at the front of the peloton, with Contador being paced by three of his team-mates, and his rivals Rodríguez and Valverde were in close order to him. With the pace being accelerated, the peloton was being reduced in numbers, with only the race contenders remaining after a time. Froome cracked on the climb at one point, but managed to recover sufficiently to rejoin the leaders' group – having caught and passed Losada – before eventually falling off the back again, eventually losing 50 seconds, falling to 1' 41 behind, after time bonuses were applied.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Contador launched an attack with 1.9 km (1.2 mi) to go, and nobody followed immediately; however, Rodríguez eventually set off in pursuit of Contador, catching him with around a kilometre remaining. Contador made one last bid for victory, but Rodríguez had enough to combat the move, and eventually accelerated away from him and won his third stage of the race, gapping Contador by five seconds, and added nine seconds to his overall lead.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
For the second of the three consecutive summit finishes, the riders had to negotiate two categorised climbs – as well as the unclassified Puerto de Pajares – before the final 13.5 km (8.4 mi) climb, categorised as a climb of "Categoria Especial", to Lagos de Covadonga. Although the final climb was less steep in gradient compared to the climb before it, the Alto del Mirador del Fito – 7% compared to the latter's 8.3% – it reached 15% in places.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
As well as that, there were two sections of downhill – each of around 1 km (0.6 mi) in length – in the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of the climb, before ramping up again for the finish. In the early kilometres of the stage, a group of nineteen riders formed the early hallmarks of a breakaway group, before it was eventually established with ten riders in the group, as the peloton negotiated the windy conditions of the stage.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The lead group quickly built a lead then continually went up as the stage wore on, eventually reaching a maximum of around fifteen minutes on the Alto del Mirador del Fito; despite this lead, none of the ten riders were going to make any impact on the general classification as the best-placed rider in the group – Andrey Kashechkin of the Astana team – was over 22 minutes down on the leader Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Kashechkin tried to launch the first attack on the climb to Covadonga, but was brought back by Movistar Team's Pablo Lastras; a second move by Caja Rural rider Antonio Piedra was more successful, and he continually pulled away from his breakaway companions, eventually winning the stage – his team's first at the Vuelta – by over two minutes. The remainder of the lead ten came to the line in individual groups, while the race leaders Rodríguez, Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank and Lastras' team-mate Alejandro Valverde were over nine minutes in arrears. Valverde moved up to third overall, as Team Sky's Chris Froome lost 35 seconds to the lead trio.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
The last stage before the second and final rest day of the race, the sixteenth stage of the race was set up as the toughest day of climbing in the entire race, and as a result, was deemed the queen stage of the race.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
During its 183.5 km (114.0 mi) parcours, there were three categorised climbs and a fourth, to the finish, at Cuitu Negru; the climbs got harder as the stage wore on, with a third-category ascent of the Alto de la Cabruñana first, followed by the first-category climbs of the Puerto de San Lorenzo (8.5% gradient) and the Alto de la Cobertoria, a climb with an average gradient of 8.6%.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
The climb to Valgrande-Pajares and beyond to Cuitu Negru – a "Categoria Especial" climb just like the previous day's finish at Lagos de Covadonga – averaged 6.9% over its 19.4 km (12.1 mi), but was much steeper in the final few kilometres, reaching almost 25% in places. Unlike previous years, the stage finished on a newly-repaved section of road, just for the race, rather than finishing in Valgrande-Pajares.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Mini-attacks set the course of the early running of the stage, with the field remaining as a whole for most of the first hour of racing after several attacks were closed down within minutes.


2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
It was not until the descent of the first climb of the day, the Alto de la Cabruñana, that an attacking move was allowed to be established; the riders that instigated it, were Thomas De Gendt of Vacansoleil–DCM – the winner of the queen stage at May's Giro d'Italia, at the Stelvio Pass – and Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Dario Cataldo. De Gendt and Cataldo quickly gained a substantial advantage over the rest of the field, picking up a lead of almost fourteen-and-a-half minutes while ascending the day's second climb at the Puerto de San Lorenzo.