Madrid, Sep 6 (IANS): World champion Phillipe Gilbert won a tough sprint finish against Sky's Edwald Bosen Hagen to win the 12th stage of the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race.

The Belgian, who rides for the BMC team used his ability to sprint fast on climbs to overhaul Bosen-Hagen, who had looked to have won the 164 kilometre stage Thursday, reports Xinhua.

However, Gilbert is an expert in uphill sprint finishes and in the end he was able to score a comfortable win, which incredibly was his first triumph of the season.

As expected on a rolling stage without any major climbs, the main peloton had to chase down a breakaway, with the Green Edge Omega-Pharma and Garmin Sharpe, all of which count on powerful sprinters, looking to close the gap before the finish in Tarragona.

The main breakaway was neutralised with just over 25 kilometres remaining, but with 12 km to go, Tony Martin, who rides for the Omega-Pharma team, launched a powerful solo break and the specialist time-trialist, who has two second place finishes in the Vuelta again made the group work hard before being reeled in.

The overall standings remain the same with Vicenzo Nibali in the lead, followed by Nicholas Roche in second, while Alejandro Valverde and Chris Horner are tied in third.