Philippe Gilbert (BMC) is holding out hope that he can pull off the stage win he has been hunting at this year's Vuelta a Espana. As the race enters its second half, the Belgian champion says there are possibly two more chances for him to post a victory salute and one of those will be on Thursday's stage 12 from Los Corrales de Buelna to Bilbao.
"The goal was to win a stage, and it is still to win a stage, so we're still trying to make this happen," Gilbert told Cyclingnews in a phone interview on the first rest day.
"It's possible that I could do well in stage 12. I think it will be a breakaway. We have to figure out how to control this day, and I have to be there to join that group and make it happen. But it's always hard."
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Stage 12 presents a 193.2km race with four climbs; Puerto de Las Alisas, Alto la Escria and two final climbs over Alto El Vivero, which is 4.2km climb and has an 8.5% grade topping out just 13km from the finish line.
Gilbert said that with the exception of the overall contenders, almost every other rider in the peloton is also be hunting a stage win and so making that happen for himself will be the biggest challenge.
"Yes, I was looking at all the stages coming into this last half of the race, and much of it favours the climbers and the really light guys. It will be really hard for me but there are one or maybe two stages that are a possibility for me.
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