Nairo Quintana retuvo un dia mas su condicion de lider de la Vuelta a España, despues de la etapa 13 ganada por Valerio Conti del Lampre-Merida, quien sacó ventaja de un peloton relajado, pensando en reservar fuerzas para la jornada del sabado con la subida al Col d’Aubisque.
Conti probó ser el mas fuerte de los 12 pedalistas escapados, saltó de ese grupo faltando 19 kilometros para el final y se mantuvo hasta cruzar primer la meta, pese a los ingentes ataques por reducirle la diferencia y asi ganar su primera etapa en una de las grandes competencias en sus 3 años de profesionalismo.
El peloton ingreso a 33 minutos de Conti, pero Nairo Quintana y su liderato no estuvieron en peligro en ningun momento, ya que conti estaba a mas de una hora de diferencia y el colombiano y sus principales adversarios se mostraron tranquilos por la recuperacion de fuerzas antes de la etapa 14.
Valerio Conti (Lampre-Merida) took the biggest win of his young career in the Basque Country, taking advantage of a lethargic peloton to win alone after being part of the break of the day.
Conti proved he was strongest in the 12-rider attack. He jumped away from his rivals with 19km to go on the rolling roads to Urdaz. As they hesitated, he opened a 30-second gap and never look round. Several chasers eventually tried to work together but Conti pushed on and opened his lead, having enough time to celebrate and savour his first Grand Tour stage win and only the second won of his three-year career.
Danilo Wyss (BMC) won the sprint for second place, beating Sergey Lagutin (Katusha), 55 seconds behind Conti.
The peloton was timed as 26 minutes back as Conti hit the line. Nairo Quintana’s race lead was not under threat and so the overall contenders were happy to save their legs for Saturday’s big stage on the Col d’Aubisque.