BMC Racing Team's Alessandro De Marchi soloed to victory on a fog-shrouded mountain-top finish Saturday at the Vuelta a España after teammate Samuel Sánchez was forced to withdraw due to an ongoing foot injury.

De Marchi attacked out of a five-man breakaway in the final two kilometers of the 215 kilometer race, the longest of the three-week event. He delivered a victory salute while freewheeling his BMC teammachine SLR01 across the line 21 seconds ahead of Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) and 32 seconds before José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team), who was third.

"With a bit of luck, in the right moment, I had the energy to do a fast attack," De Marchi said. "I was lucky because I do not think I was the strongest."

De Marchi's victory was his first since joining the BMC Racing Team at the beginning of the season. Last year's "most aggressive rider" of the Tour de France was sidelined for four months by tendonitis in his left foot. He only made his return in mid-July.

"I never thought I would be able to win a stage," De Marchi said. "Today was very difficult, first to get in the breakaway and then to take the win. But everything felt great.

Sánchez became the third rider from the BMC Racing Team to leave the race, joining Marcus Burghardt and Tejay van Garderen, who both retired due to injuries from crashes. Dr. Daniele Zaccaria said an infected toenail on Sánchez's right foot had had been bothering the 2008 Olympic road race champion for nearly a week.

"We tried to manage the issue with medication, but in the last few days he was fighting against this problem and no longer able to push on the pedals," Zaccaria said.

Sanchez, who had never before withdrawn from the Vuelta, said it was not easy to climb off his BMC barely 20 kilometers into the race.

"This is a hard day for me to have to abandon the Vuelta a España," Sánchez said. "The problem with my toenail made it impossible for me to pedal. Yesterday was a really, really hard day for me. I had a lot of pain in my right leg and today it was just impossible after 35 minutes of the race."

Just as Sánchez was stopping, the day's breakaway with De Marchi was forming. With him was Mikael Chérel (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Carlos Quintero (Team Colombia), Puccio and Rojas. Their advantage peaked at 10 minutes over the top of the day's second climb.

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Max Sciandri said the escapees knew they would survive to the finish, but nothing else was certain.

"It was a bit of nerve-wracking race, because even though we were climbing up all the way to the end, the climb wasn't hard until two kilometers from the top," Sciandri said. "It was there that Alessandro made a bit of a move and it really turned out well. This is a good comeback for him."

De Marchi said he knew he was the marked man of the group when Chérel attacked with four kilometers to go.

"Everybody else was was looking at me, so I had to do the big job to bring them back," he said. "Then I had to keep waiting and waiting for the right time.

"It was very difficult because everybody was watching me, thinking I was the strongest. Personally I thought it was Cherel and I had to go and bridge the gap twice when he attacked. I knew the last two kilometers were harder and I waited for them to attack. I was also afraid of Puccio, who is very fast. Fortunately, I was faster today.  

"It was the hardest part of the day to get into the break. It was like roulette, you needed legs but also instinct. And five guys to lead a 200-km break is not enough. I really didn't think it would be enough to go for victory today.

"It's really a surprise because I didn't think I was the strongest and the break was so hard to go into. It's incredible after all the problems I had in spring.

"I had tendinitis to the Achilles tendon in the left foot and from April 1 to June 10 I was unable to ride a bike. It started in December but it went worse as months went by. It's not easy when you're a cyclist to be unable to ride a bike. I want to thank the team for everything they did for me in those difficult times.

"BMC came to this Vuelta with a motto -- "day by day". Even if we came here to work for Tejay then for Sam, they were both unlucky. Now every day will be chance to go in a break. It worked for me. It can work for others. As I said: day by day.

"Hopefully the Italian selector will call me. I feel better and better. I'm in good shape and if I'm asked to wear the maglia azzurra, I will be happy to. I will deserve it if I maintain the same form.

"It's my most beautiful victory because I didn't expect to come back and win like this after what happened to me in spring. It's great victory for my legs, my head and of course my heart."

The victory was the BMC Racing Team's 32nd on the season. It was De Marchi's first since his solo win on Stage 7 of last year's Vuelta a España.