Hesjedal wins at Velefique

The Garmin rider beat Spaniard David Garcia Da Pena (Xacobeo) to the line at the end of the first major test of the race that saw the riders travel 172.4km from Almeria.

"It was the perfect scenario all day," Hesjedal said.

"I got in a good break, we worked well together all day and then I still had enough strength left at the end to drop my rivals and catch the guy ahead."

Hesjedal said narrowly missing the victory on stage 10, where he finished second behind Australian Simon Gerrans, had increased his motivation.

"I was more determined than ever to win after that, and fortunately even though the guys were closing (the gap behind) I had enough speed to win," he said.

Asked if he thought he could go for another win in the next two mountain stages, Hesjedal said: "I've no idea, I'm still in a state of shock that I managed to win this one."

Hesjdeal and Garcia Da Pena were part of a 12-man escape group that formed early in the stage and they just managed to hold off the elite riders who surged up the final stages of the 13.3km climb to the summit at 1810 metres above sea level.

Robert Gesink, third overall, attacked with 2km remaining and beat Ezequiel Mosquera for third place, finishing just six seconds behind the winner.

Gesink said he was pleased to have made up some time.

"My only regret is I didn't get the stage win," he said. "But I'm still happy I pulled back some time."

Damiano Cunego was fifth, a further 10 seconds adrift, ahead of gold jersey wearer Valverde who lost half of his 36-second advantage over the Rabobank rider.

Cadel Evans was seventh to stay seven seconds back from the Caisse d'Epargne man with fellow GC contenders Ivan Basso, Tom Danielson and Samuel Sanchez completing the top 10.

Valverde was happy to have retained his lead - but was disappointed to concede so much time to Gesink.

"It's clear we can't let Gesink get away again," Valverde said.

"Today I was shadowing Evans and the important thing is I'm still leader."

An escape group that also featured Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues), Javier Ramirez Abeja (Andalucia), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Bingen Fernandez (Cofidis), Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), Julien El Fares (Cofidis), Julian Pimienta (Contentpolis), Arkaitz Duran (Fuji-Servetto) and Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) formed before the first ascent of the Alto de Velefique after 43km.

Their lead climbed to nearly eight minutes as they approached the category one Alto de Calar Alto, the highest peak in the Sierra de los Filabres, but had been reduced to under five as they started the second ascent to Velefique.

The elite bunch was whittled down on the climb but the top eight positions overall remained unchanged with the weekend promising a greater shake-up with a final 17km climb to Sierra Nevada on stage 13 and a 1840m ascent to Alto Sierra de la Pandera on Sunday.

2006 winner Vinokourov of Kazakhstan was one of four riders who abandoned during stage 12. The Astana rider quit close to the finish.

"It's nothing in particular, he's just got too tired to continue," Astana sports director Sean Yates said.