VdV down again; Danielson okay
Christian Vande Velde (CSC) was caught up in Thursday’s big crash that took out CSC teammate Jakob Piil.

The Dane was knocked unconscious and taken to a local hospital for overnight observations, but early indications are that he wasn’t otherwise seriously injured.

Vande Velde, however, was banged up when riders fell in front of him like bowling pins.

“Everyone went down in front of me and I went down on top of them,” Vande Velde said. “I fell on the same place I did the other day. I have a big hematoma there and I kind of aggravated it. I crashed Monday and crashed once before that, so three times makes a charm, right?”

Vande Velde was able to chase back on and finished safely in the main bunch.

Discovery Channel’s Tom Danielson wasn’t involved in the crash and rolled safely across the line 29th in the main bunch to retain his sixth-place overall at 5:03 back.

“I was on the left side and I stayed out of it,” Danielson said. “There were a lot of people who went down. It looked like everyone was going down.”

Danielson said he’s been working on improving his position in the peloton, something that’s been an Achilles heel for the 27-year-old so far in his European racing career.

“This guy right here has been my savior,” Danielson said as he pointed to teammate Michael Barry at the finish line. “This guy has been phenomenal this Vuelta. I owe him my positioning and my luck. He’s been awesome with me, staying with me, keeping me out of the wind.” Danielson has so far avoided trouble in the Vuelta, riding with new confidence and strength as the race nears the end of the second week.

“I feel like I am getting better each day, the goal is just to get to Madrid,” Danielson said. “I’m still on track.”

Boonen not worried
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) came up short again in a sprint against arch-rival Alessandro Petacchi, but he could care less.

His Spanish training camp is officially coming to a close and he’s scheduled to travel home to Belgium on Friday (perhaps he will race half the stage, he said) to put the finishing touches on his preparations ahead of the world championships later this month in Madrid.

“It’s OK that the others are ahead of me here. It doesn’t worry me. I really didn’t try in this Vuelta,” Boonen said before the start. “I’m only here to prepare for the world championships. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now.”

While Petacchi has barn-stormed to four sprint victories to confirm his position as one of the favorites for the road world’s, Boonen will leave the Vuelta empty-handed. The Flanders-Roubaix champion didn’t appear overly concerned about Petacchi’s apparent superiority.

“I only came to the Vuelta to recuperate my fitness and I leave here at about 80 percent fitness. If I was here at top fitness I might not have reached the peak at the world’s,” he said. “At Madrid, I want to be 110 percent fitness and I didn’t want to peak too early.”

Boonen is overcoming a pair of crashes, one that took him out of the Tour de France in July and another in a crash in Holland on Aug. 20. He entered the Vuelta intent on regaining his fitness ahead of Madrid, something the Belgian star says is mission accomplished.

Boonen said he will enter the world’s without any extra pressure. After all, it’s been a pretty good year for the 24-year-old.

“This season is already very good for me. Of course, it can be even better with a medal at the world’s. It’s not often the world’s course is tailored for a sprint, so I have to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said. “Everyone says it’s going to be a sprint, but I’m not so sure. The course is harder than people think, but I will bet on the sprint. That’s my best chance to win a medal.”

Boonen picked Petacchi and Robbie McEwen as his top rivals for the rainbow jersey, with Thor Hushovd, Max Van Heeswijk and Alejandro Valverde as outsiders.

Where it stands
Three riders are out of the Vuelta - Jakob Piil (CSC) crashed out, Gerrit Glomser (Gerolsteiner) didn’t start and José Antonio Pecharroman (Quick Step) finished out of the time limit – leaving 156 riders in the Vuelta.

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) won his fourth stage of this Vuelta, while Denis Menchov (Rabobank) retained the overall leader’s, points and combined jerseys. Roberto Heras’s crash was the day’s big story, but he finished in the main group to remain second at 47 seconds back. Joaquin Rodriguez (Sauner Duval) retained the climber’s jersey while Comunidad Valenciana kept its hold on the team classification.

What’s next
The 60th Vuelta a España continues Friday with the 196km 13th stage from Burgos to Santuario de la Bien Aparecida (Ampuero). The hilly profile could spring a breakaway for the first time in this year’s Vuelta, with a category one climb at 121km and three category three climbs in the final 54km, including the category three climb to the finish line.