page_title: Juan Antonio Flecha
section_title: 2012
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Antonio Flecha / Professional Cycling Career / 2012
caption_attribution_description: English: Juan Antonio Flecha at the 2012 Paris-Roubaix
context_page_description: Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni is an Argentine-born Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013. Flecha had a reputation of being a Classics specialist and to ride with an aggressive style as he was keen on participating in breakaways. His major victories include winning a stage of the 2003 Tour de France, successes at the two defunct classics Züri-Metzgete and Giro del Lazio in 2004, and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2010. He was also known for his numerous high placings in important one-day races, most notably Paris–Roubaix, where he finished in the top ten eight times without registering the victory. In the Grand Tours, he was often assigned to a role of domestique.
context_section_description: At the beginning of the year, Flecha took the third place overall at the Tour of Qatar, thanks to a good placing on the fourth stage, as it was the only stage that didn't conclude in a mass sprint apart from the short team time trial. Back in Europe, he finished third in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, signing a podium finish for the fourth year in a row in this classic. He followed a strong attack by Garmin–Sharp's Sep Vanmarcke on the cobbled sector 'Lange Munte' with Tom Boonen. Flecha tried his luck in the final kilometers but was outsprinted by the pair, with Vanmarcke taking the win. He had to withdraw from the Tirreno-Adriatico because of a fracture to the metacarpal bone in his hand suffered in training.  According to Danny Nelissen of Eurosport, it was the result of some sheninagans with a motorist.
  Flecha healed in time to be able to participate to Paris–Roubaix, looking for a victory as he finished in the top 10 of the Classic six times in the last 7 years, without ever winning it. He was part of a small group including his teammate Mathew Hayman who tried to bring back Tom Boonen from his solo breakaway initiated with 53 km (33 mi) to race, but they could not get to him. He entered the velodrome in Roubaix with two fellow escapees, but two other riders joined them as they were circling the track for the final kilometer of racing. A sprint ensued and Flecha took the fourth place of the Hell of the North race. Flecha got another notable result in June, coming in fourth place of the mostly flat Ster ZLM Toer, a 2.1 rated stage race. His teammate Mark Cavendish won the event.
  In the Vuelta a España, Flecha rode in support of his leader, Chris Froome. In Stage 13, he broke away with six other men after the first hour of racing. The breakaway made it through and Flecha finished third, four seconds behind Steve Cummings of the BMC Racing Team squad. He won the Combativity award for his efforts.
  Flecha left Team Sky at the end of the year and signed a one-year contract to ride with Vacansoleil–DCM in 2013. He stated that the change of teams will give him more freedom to attack and be himself rather than giving up personal ambitions as was the case with Team Sky.
caption: Flecha at the 2012 Paris–Roubaix
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