Working as a lead-out man for Andrea Guardini, Jacopo Guarnieri suddenly got his own chance in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana when his captain went down in a crash. The Italian made the most of the opportunity by taking third but admits that he no longer has the speed he once had.

“I was waiting for a shout from Guardini but he was in the crash and I had one kilometer to recover and try to sprint," Jacopo Guarnieri said after he has sprinted to third in stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana.

Guarnieri was guiding Guardini at the end of a circuit race around Logroño. Teammates Alexey Lutsenko and Tanel Kangert did exceptional work in the final 15km to keep the team together at the front.

But nervous riders touched wheels behind Guarnieri, and Guardini fell victim to bad luck and bad positioning. Guarnieri recovered well enough to stay close to stage winner John Degenkolb of Germany, while Fabio Aru received the same time and holds on to seventh overall in General Classification.

“I wasn’t racing for winning the stage," Guarnieri added. "I wasted a lot of energy to bring Guardini to the front but he lost my wheel with 1.5km to go. That’s where the crash happened I guess.

"I’m third behind Degenkolb and Boonen, it’s flattering but through the years, I’ve lost the speed I had for sprinting myself. I do a better job as a lead out man. I’ve seen how Giant-Shimano worked today. They had a fantastic train. Boonen was perfectly positioned behind Degenkolb but he couldn’t pass him.”