John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) continued his domination of the Vuelta a Espana sprints when he emerged as the strongest in a hectic and exciting stage 17 of the Spanish race. Lumpy roads made it hard for Giant-Shimano to catch the break but when the junction was made less than 1km from the line, the German powered clear of Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek) to take his fourth win in the race. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) finished safely in the bunch and defended his lead.

Two years ago John Degenkolb completely dominated the sprints in the Vuelta a Espana, winning five stages in his first grand tour for his new team which was then known as Argos-Shimano. This year he has returned to the Spanish race and is now getting close to matching his record.

Today he took his fourth victory when he emerged as the strongest in what is likely to have been the last bunch sprint of the race. Despite being without a lead-out train in the finale, the German was a constant presence in the front positions before launching a powerful sprint to hold off Michael Matthews and Fabian Cancellera.

However, Degenkolb was almost denied the chance to sprint for the win as the lumpy coastal terrain in Galicia made things very hard for Giant-Shimano. A strong 5-rider breakaway with Bob Jungels (Trek), Rohan Dennis (BMC) and Elia Favilli (Lampre-Merida) as the final survivors proved to be very difficult to catch.

In the first part of the stage, no one wanted to lend Giant-Shimano a hand and the Dutch team was struggling to keep the situation under control. With 70km to go, Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Orica-GreenEDGE finally came to the fore and started to peg back the escapees.

However, those three teams had to use almost all their riders for the chase and they constantly blew up as the peloton repeatedly tackled small, tricky hills on the coastal roads. With 5km to go, Orica-GreenEDGE and Omega Pharma-Quick Step had emptied their tank and now Giant-Shimano were even using GC rider Warren Barguil for the chase.

In the end, they were saved by a cobbled section that forced Sky to the force and strong work by the British team and huge turns by Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Patrick Gretsch (Ag2r) finally brought Dennis and Favilli back with 500m to go. From there, Degenkolb had to do things on his own but he was always in a good position, starting his sprint for third wheel when Danilo Wyss (BMC) launched a long sprint. The German easily passed Wyss and Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) and then managed to hold off the late surges by Matthews and Cancellara to take the win.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) stayed safe in what could have been a tricky stage and defended his lead of 1.36 over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). The Spaniard now goes into another GC battle as tomorrow’s stage has a summit finish on the category 2 Monte Castrove. The first part of the stage is flat but in the finale, the riders do the finishing climb twice, with the finish coming after the second passage.

A lumpy stage

After a well-deserved rest day, the Vuelta a Espana had reached Galicia for the final flat stage of this year’s race. Stage 17 brought the riders over 190.5km from Origueira to A Coruna and even though there were no categorized climbs, it was a tricky parcours that was constantly up or down. Big parts of the stage took place along the Galician coast, meaning that windy conditions were expected.

The riders took the start under beautiful sunny conditions but four riders didn’t sign in this morning. Rigoberto Uran (OPQS) and Haimar Zubeldia (Trek) are both suffering from bronchitis while Christian Knees (Sky) has fallen ill. Tanel Kangert (Astana) has been suffering from stomach problems for a few days and decided not to take the start either.

The break is formed

Right from the start, the first attacks were launched as BMC, Caja Rural and Lotto Belisol were among the active teams. However, it was very difficult clear and the riders got to the 10km mark before three riders got a small advantage. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural) and Laurent Mangel (FDJ) formed the first significant break of the day but they were brought back.

 At the 23km mark, the next promising move was instigated by Bob Jungels (Trek) and Rohan Dennis (BMC) and they laid the foundations for the right break. Lluis Mas (Caja Rural), Elia Favilli (Lampre) and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) bridged the gap and after 29km of racing, the quintet were 1.23 ahead.

Barguil crashes

Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano) went down in a crash but managed to rejoin the peloton. Meanwhile, his Giant-Shimano teammates took control of the peloton and they allowed the gap to grow very slowly

At the 43km mark, the escapees were 3 minutes ahead and that seemed to be the upper limit. Giant-Shimano stabilized the situation for a while but when Dennis led Favilli and Jungels across the line in the first intermediate sprint, they had reduced the deficit to 2.14.

Giant-Shimano lose ground

The Giant riders again stepped a bit off the gas and allowed the gap to grow to 2.50 by the time the riders passed the feed zone at the 100km mark. Surprisingly, the Dutch team was now giving them more leeway and with 75km to go, the escapees were 4 minutes ahead.

This was the signal for Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Orica-GreenEDGE to react and now Martin Velits and Cameron Meyer started to work with Chad Haga and Tobias Ludvigsson who had been doing the work. As a  consequence, the gap started to come down but with 50km to go, the escapees were still 3.30 ahead.

The break splits up

With 40km to go, they had brought the gap down to 3 minutes but now the escapees made a strong reaction, managing to stabilize the situation. This prompted OPQS to add Pieter Serry to the team of chasers and that made a difference.

With 28km to go, the gap was 2.25 and now the front group was starting to split up. On a small climb, Mas and Teklehaimanot both lost contact and while the latter managed to rejoin the group, the former fell back to the peloton.

More riders start to chase

Johannes Fröhlinger (Giant-Shimano) and Wout Poels (OPQS) were also working hard in the peloton but as they passed the 20km to go banner, the gap was still 2 minutes. Teklehaimanot led Jungels and Dennis across the line in final intermediate sprint but moments later the cooperation was broken when Jungels attacked.

The group came back together while Carlos Verona (OPQS) and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano) were now riding with Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEDGE) on the front. The other chasers had all blown up and things started to look good for the escapees.

Teklehaimanot is dropped

With 11km to go, the gap was 59 seconds and now the attacking started again. Dennis made the first move but it was the subsequent attack from Jungels that sent Teklehaimanot out the back door.

On a small climb, Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis) attacked from the peloton and they managed to get a small gap. Meanwhile, Serry and Arndt were working hard in the peloton while Favilli launched a futile attack from the break.

Sky take control

Le Bon dropped Levarlet but a strong turn by Arndt brought both Frenchmen back. Now the riders were approaching a cobbled section and this prompted Sky to take control.

Vasil Kiriyenka took a turn before Barguil started to trade pulls with Peter Kennaugh (Sky). With 5km to go, the gap was 23 seconds and with 3km to go, Luke Rowe took over for Sky.

The break is caught

With 2km to go, the gap was just 6 seconds and now Clarke was riding on the front. When Jungels had taken a huge turn, Dennis launched an attack and only Favilli could respond.

The pair were still a few metres ahead when they passed the flamme rouge. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) launched a small attack but was brought back by Gretsch.

With 500m to go, the German had also caught the front duo and now Filippo Pozzato did a long lead-out for Ferrari. However, it was Wyss that started the sprint but he had no chance against an outstanding Degenkolb.