September 19, 2002 – Alessandro Petacchi finally got what he came for. After Mario Cipollini had proved too strong for the Fassa Bortolo sprinter in the early stages of this year's Vuelta, Petacchi won the first mass sprint since Cipo's departure. The 28-year-old Italian beat Germany's Erik Zabel to win the 12th stage that led the peloton from Segovia to Burgos over a distance of 210. 5 kilometres – the longest stage in this year's Vuelta a España. The average speed of 49.237 km/h has made this stage the ninth fastest in-line stage in the history of the Vuelta.

The fastest stage ever ridden at the Vuelta was recorded last year, when Igor González de Galdeano won the ninth stage between Logroño and Zaragoza with an average speed of 55.176 km/h.

The win is the third career stage win for Petacchi at the Vuelta. In 2000, Petacchi won two stages in Spain. After his absence last year, Petacchi was one of the sprinters expected to excel at this edition of the Vuelta. But three mass sprints ended in a fourth and two second places always behind the inevitable Mario Cipollini. Today, Petacchi took the lead of the sprint quite early, but proved way too strong for his competitors. Behind Erik Zabel, Angelo Furlan finished third.

Stage 12 – September 19: Segovia – Burgos, 210.5 km
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4.16.32 (49.23 km/h)
2. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom
3. Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio
4. Gerrit Glomser (Aut) Saeco-Longoni Sport
5. Daniele Bennati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo
6. Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi
7. Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Coast
8. Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin
9. Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
10. Sven Teutenberg (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems

Overall:
1.Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 41.31.40
2. Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.01
3.Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal Service 1.42
4. Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.04
5. Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.47
7. Félix Garcia Casas (Spa) Bigmat.Auber 93 3.05
8. Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis 3.34
9. David Millar (GBr) Cofidis 3.36
10. Jörg Jaksche (Ger) ONCE-Eroski 3.51