The twelfth stage of the Vuelta ended with a bunch sprint. Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) was the fastest. He beat Daryl Impey and a strong Tosh Van der Sande, who sprinted to a nice third place.

“I think I can be happy," van der Sande said. "I can’t make it in a real bunch sprint, so a third place is good. It was an advantage for me that the last 700 metres were uphill. Because Bouhanni, Pelucchi, Ewan and Sagan already left the Vuelta, many riders can get a top result, that makes it even more chaotic. Jelle [Vanendert], Adam [Hansen] and Jasper [de Buyst] led me to the front but you always need some luck as well.

"It was hard. In the finale, in the last 500 metres I think, I was in the lead. It was too early but I had good legs. They came back from behind. I didn't have any speed left. But it's OK, it's been five top 10 places now. I didn't expect that before the Vuelta.

"In the rest of the Vuelta there will be some more opportunities and then we’ll go for it again. In the first twelve stages I finished in top ten five times, that proves my condition is good.”