LLEIDA, Spain – British sprint king Mark Cavendish powered to victory in the 12th stage of the Tour of Spain on Thursday enabling him to claim individual stage wins in all three of cycling’s major Tours.

Spain’s Igor Anton of the Euskatel team retained the leader’s red jersey after the 172.5-kilometer ride from the tiny principality of Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains to Lleida in northeastern Spain.

Cavendish edged American Tyler Farrar of the Garmin-Transitions team in a sprint to the line, and third was the Briton’s HTC-Columbia teammate Matthew Goss of Australia.

It was the Isle of Man rider’s first individual stage victory in his debut in the Tour of Spain.

He already has a remarkable 15 stage victories in the Tour of France over the past three years and five over two years in the Giro d’Italia.

The 25-year-old had grabbed the overall leadership on the first day of the Tour of Spain on August 28 after leading HTC-Columbia to victory in the team time trial in the southern city of Seville, and held onto the red jersey after the second stage.

But Thursday race marked his first individual stage win in the event.

After Wednesday’s gruelling mountainous stage, which included a summit finish in Andorra, the scene was set for a mass sprint finish in Lleida in Thursday’s stage, which included just one 2nd category climb.

It was Goss who first looked set to take the stage, emerging from the pack in the final stretch, before Cavendish took over.

“It was so chaotic the final (stretch), really chaotic,” Cavendish said afterward.

“I thought I was too far back with 600 (meters) to go. And then Goss just went. Then he gave me the lead out and I turned around and saw we had a gap, and I actually wanted to give him the win.”

He praised the team effort that went into the victory, especially the work of Denmark’s Lars Bak.

A total of 83 others riders all finished with the same time as the winner.

The stage was otherwise marked by a breakaway that was composed of nine riders after some 50 kilometres. But they were caught by the peleton about some 20 kilometres from the finish.

Anton, who recaptured the red jersey on Wednesday, maintains his 45-second lead over Italian Vincenzo Nibali, of Liquigas, in the overall standings, with Cervelo rider Xavier Tondo of Spain third.

The sprinters may have another chance to shine on Friday’s 13th stage, which takes the riders 196 kilometres from Rincon de Soto to Burgos in north-central Spain and includes just two 3rd category climbs.

On Saturday is the first of three mountainous stages before an individual time trial in the northern town Penafiel on Tuesday.

The 21-stage Tour of Spain, the third of the Grand Tours after the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, wraps up in Madrid on September 19.

Stage Results:

1. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) 4h00min 30sec
(average: 43,0 km/h)
2. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) at 0:00.
3. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 0:00.
4. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
5. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 0:00.
6. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
7. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 0:00.
8. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 0:00.
9. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
10. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
11. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
12. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
13. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 0:00.
14. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 0:00.
15. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 0:00.
16. Theo Bos (NED/CTT) 0:00.
17. Robert Forster (GER/MRM) 0:00.
18. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 0:00.
19. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
20. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
21. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 0:00.
22. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 0:00.
23. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
24. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 0:00.
25. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 0:00.
26. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 0:00.
27. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 0:00.
28. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 0:00.
29. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 0:00.
30. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 0:00.
31. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 0:00.
32. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
33. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
34. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 0:00.
35. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 0:00.
36. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
37. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
38. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 0:00.
39. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 0:00.
40. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
41. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 0:00.
42. Juan José Haedo (ARG/SAX) 0:00.
43. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 0:00.
44. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
45. David García (ESP/KGZ) 0:00.
46. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 0:00.
47. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 0:00.
48. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
49. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/KAT) 0:00.
50. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
51. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 0:00.
52. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 0:00.
53. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 0:00.
54. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 0:00.
55. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
56. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 0:00.
57. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
58. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 0:00.
59. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 0:00.
60. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 0:00.
61. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 0:00.
62. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
63. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 0:00.
64. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
65. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 0:00.
66. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
67. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 0:00.
68. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
69. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
70. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
71. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
72. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 0:00.
73. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 0:00.
74. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 0:00.
75. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 0:00.
76. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 0:00.
77. Oliver Zaugg (SWI/LIQ) 0:00.
78. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 0:00.
79. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
80. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 0:00.
81. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 0:00.
82. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 0:00.
83. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
84. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 0:00.
85. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 0:17.
86. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/FDJ) 0:17.
87. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 0:17.
88. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 0:17.
89. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:17.
90. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 0:17.
91. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 0:17.
92. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/FDJ) 0:17.
93. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 0:17.
94. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:17.
95. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 0:17.
96. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 0:17.
97. Gustav Larsson (SWE/SAX) 0:17.
98. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 0:17.
99. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 0:17.
100. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 0:17.
101. Remi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 0:17.
101. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 0:17.
102. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 0:17.
103. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 0:17.
104. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 0:17.
106. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 0:17.
107. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 0:17.
108. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 0:17.
109. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 0:17.
110. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 0:17.
111. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 0:17.
112. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 0:17.
113. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 0:17.
114. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 0:17.
115. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 0:17.
116. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 0:17.
117. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 0:17.
118. Hayden Roulston (NZL/THR) 0:17.
119. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 0:17.
120. Bjoern Schroeder (GER/MRM) 0:17.
121. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 0:17.
122. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 0:17.
123. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:17.
124. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 0:27.
125. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:27.
126. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 0:27.
127. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 0:27.
128. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 0:30..
129. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 0:30.
130. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 0:30.
131. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 0:30.
132. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 0:30.
133. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 0:30.
134. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP/ALM) 0:30.
134. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 0:30.
135. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 0:30.
136. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 0:30.
137. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 0:30.
138. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 0:30.
139. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 0:30.
140. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 0:30.
141. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 0:30.
143. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 0:30.
144. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 0:30.
145. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 0:30.
146. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 0:30.
147. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 0:30.
148. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 0:30.
149. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 0:30.
150. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 0:30.
151. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 0:30.
152. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 0:30.
153. Nicolas Vogondy (FRA/BTL) 0:30.
154. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 0:30.
155. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 0:30.
156. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 0:30.
157. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 0:30.
158. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:30.
159. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 0:44.
160. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 0:50.
161. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 0:53.
162. Fabian Cancellara (SWI/SAX) 0:55.
163. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 1:14.
164. Johann Tschopp (SWI/BTL) 1:22.
165. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 1:24.
166. Stefan Denifl (AUT/CTT) 1:24.
167. David Zabriskie (USA/GRM) 1:25.
168. Benat Intxausti (ESP/EUS) 1:31.
169. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 1:31.
170. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 1:31.
171. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 1:31.
172. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 1:51.
173. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 1:57.
174. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 2:04.
. Roy Sentjens (NED/MRM) Withdrawn
. David Vitoria (SWI/FOT) Retired

Overall Classification Results:
1. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 51h37min 45sec
2. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) at 0:45.
3. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 1:04.
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 1:17.
5. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 1:29.
6. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 1:57.
7. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 2:07.
8. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 2:13.
9. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 2:30.
10. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 2:30.
11. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 2:37.
12. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 2:53.
13. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 3:03.
14. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 3:16.
15. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 3:27.
16. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 3:40.
17. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 4:16.
18. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 4:50.
19. David García (ESP/KGZ) 5:04.
20. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 5:41.
21. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 6:20.
22. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 6:59.
23. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 7:05.
24. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 7:10.
25. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/FDJ) 7:53.
26. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 8:01.
27. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 8:07.
28. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 9:25.
29. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 9:25.
30. Gustav Larsson (SWE/SAX) 9:40.
31. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 9:53.
32. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 9:56.
33. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 12:54.
34. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 14:04.
35. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 15:00.
36. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/FDJ) 15:03.
37. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 16:04.
38. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 18:13.
39. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 19:40.
40. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 20:43.
41. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 21:01.
42. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 22:31.
43. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 24:57.
44. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 26:23.
45. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 27:18.
46. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 27:21.
47. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/KAT) 27:58.
48. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 28:25.
49. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 29:47.
50. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 30:37.
51. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 33:25.
52. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 34:18.
53. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 34:38.
54. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 35:17.
55. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 36:03.
56. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 37:46.
57. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 38:30.
58. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 39:06.
59. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 39:17.
60. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 39:50.
61. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 43:49.
62. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 44:09.
63. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 44:44.
64. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 45:06.
65. Oliver Zaugg (SWI/LIQ) 47:34.
66. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 48:39.
67. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 50:31.
68. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 52:48.
69. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 52:52.
70. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 53:23.
71. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 54:06.
72. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 54:12.
73. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 55:59.
74. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 56:22.
75. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 57:11.
76. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 58:07.
77. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 59:05.
78. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 59:34.
79. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 1h01:01.
80. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 1h01:20.
81. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 1h01:24.
82. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 1h02:41.
83. Johann Tschopp (SWI/BTL) 1h02:57.
84. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 1h03:08.
85. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 1h04:03.
86. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 1h04:31.
87. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 1h05:31.
88. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 1h06:33.
89. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 1h06:47.
90. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 1h07:43.
91. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 1h08:30.
92. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 1h09:31.
93. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 1h10:00.
94. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 1h10:37.
95. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 1h11:40.
96. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 1h12:44.
97. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 1h13:40.
98. Remi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 1h15:00.
99. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 1h15:08.
100. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP/ALM) 1h15:41.
101. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 1h15:57.
102. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 1h16:22.
103. Nicolas Vogondy (FRA/BTL) 1h18:08.
104. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 1h20:14.
105. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 1h20:28.
106. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 1h21:14.
107. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 1h22:44.
108. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 1h24:40.
109. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 1h25:20.
110. Bjoern Schroeder (GER/MRM) 1h25:43.
111. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 1h32:57.
112. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 1h33:35.
113. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 1h34:00.
114. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 1h35:06.
115. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 1h35:21.
116. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 1h35:31.
117. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 1h35:46.
118. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 1h36:09.
119. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 1h37:01.
120. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 1h37:28.
121. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 1h37:52.
122. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 1h39:03.
123. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 1h41:05.
124. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 1h41:45.
125. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 1h42:04.
126. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 1h42:06.
127. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 1h42:18.
128. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 1h43:38..
129. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 1h44:36.
130. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 1h44:44.
131. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 1h44:44.
132. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 1h46:08.
133. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 1h46:48.
134. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 1h49:01.
135. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 1h50:11.
136. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 1h50:20.
137. Stefan Denifl (AUT/CTT) 1h51:00.
138. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 1h52:37.
139. Hayden Roulston (NZL/THR) 1h52:48.
140. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 1h54:15.
141. David Zabriskie (USA/GRM) 1h55:04.
142. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 1h55:49.
143. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 1h55:50.
144. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 1h55:53.
145. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 1h57:16.
146. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 1h57:28.
147. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 1h57:54.
148. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 1h58:43.
149. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 1h59:19.
150. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 1h59:44.
151. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 2h00:23.
152. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 2h00:41.
153. Benat Intxausti (ESP/EUS) 2h00:53.
154. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 2h01:26.
155. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 2h02:18.
156. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 2h02:18.
157. Robert Forster (GER/MRM) 2h03:18.
158. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 2h04:22.
159. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 2h05:40.
160. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 2h06:15.
161. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 2h06:59.
162. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) 2h09:12.
163. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 2h10:18.
164. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 2h10:25.
165. Juan José Haedo (ARG/SAX) 2h10:38.
166. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 2h10:44.
167. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 2h11:24.
168. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 2h11:56.
169. Theo Bos (NED/CTT) 2h12:40.
170. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 2h14:40.
171. Fabian Cancellara (SWI/SAX) 2h17:14.
172. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 2h23:14.
173. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 2h25:06.
174. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 2h34:37.

Article: AFP
Photo: Corvos