The 189km 17th Stage of La Vuelta a España looked like it would come down to a bunch sprint, but the stage did not play out as predicted. Aggressive tactics by Saxo-Tinkoff in the crosswinds forced a split of the peloton into three groups, catching out some top GC contenders such as Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R - La Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). OPQS, unfortunately, was unable to make the first echelon.
There were continued attacks in the final kilometers within the front group, but it was an attack by Bauke Mollema (Belkin Pro Cycling Team) that caught the sprinters by surprise in the final few hundred meters. He went on to win the stage. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Pro Cycling Team) was 2nd and Maximiliano Richeze (Lampre-Merida) was 3rd. The Pinot and Pozzovivo group lost about 1'30" in the second group. OPQS rider Gianni Meersman was the top finisher as he was in that group. He finished in 47th place.
OPQS looks next to a 186.5km Stage 18 on Thursday.