In a sprint to the line, Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) edged Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-QuickStep) to win in Córdoba on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España. While Team BikeExchange had worked at the front of the peloton for their sprinter Michael Matthews, he managed third place.
Beginning in Jaén and traveling west through Porcuna and El Carpio to reach the beautiful city of Córdoba, Thursday’s race saw the peloton reel back an early breakaway of eight riders before the second of two categorised climbs of the day, with less than 25 kilometres left to race.
Five kilometres later near the top of the Alto del 14%, Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) attacked and was joined by Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix) and Sergio Henao (Qhubeka NextHash). UAE Team Emirates and Team BikeExchange led the chase, with the escapees being caught one by one, finally Vine with less than one kilometre to go.
Among the 39 riders in the reduced bunch at the finish line was Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), who retained the overall lead of the race. Also in that group were Ineos, Movistar, and Jumbo riders involved in a crash on the third category Alto de San Jerónimo around 60km to go, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers).
Watch the video highlights above for this exciting sprint finish.
