PREVIEW

Thursday afternoon had come and race organizer Unipublic invited the riders in Vuelta a Espana to a challenge in the mountainous terrain of Northwestern Spain. Stage 12 of Vuelta a Espana 2024 would take the riders from Ourense Termal to Estacion de Montana de Manzaneda. The route was 137.5-kilometers short, and an intense battle was expected between the remaining general classification favorites in the peloton in a stage that culminated with the grueling Category One climb to Estacion de Montana de Manzaneda.

Whether the cyclists in the Vuelta peloton had used the opportunity to recover in the thermal baths of Ourense Termal was unknown, but Lennert van Eetvelt, who crashed in yesterday’s stage, had not recovered and his Lotto-Dstny team would have to do without him in the last half of this year’s La Vuelta a Espana.

While Primoz Roglic (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar Team), Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers) had all shown great form and delivered great performances in yesterday’s stage 11, Richard Carapaz had lost valuable time in the General Classification and dropped to fourth – possibly due to the effects of the crash he suffered, when he was forced off the road by Frenchman Victor Lafay from Decathlon-AG2R, who forcefully stopped his attack and left the Ecuadorian rider bleeding on the tarmac. 

The violent rider was fined 500 Swiss Francs and a yellow card for his actions and hopefully additional reprimands were coming from race organizer Unipublic for Lafay’s attack on Carapaz, but Decathlon-AG2R team captain and race leader Ben O’Connor made rather arrogant and unempathetic media statements before the start of the stage as did Lafay himself.

Today’s stage 12 would conclude with a stage finale on the challenging Estacion de montana de Manzaneda climb, and the riders were expected to set a very fast pace in the hilly terrain, which would transport the riders to the fireworks of the finale. The Category One climb is almost sixteen kilometers long, has an average gradient of 4.8 percent, and features sections of up to 7.3 percent in the final kilometers before its top, so peak performance was called for in today’s stage.

HOW THE STAGE UNFOLDED

The official start was given, and it did not take long before riders powered away from the front of the peloton in vile attempts at forming a viable breakaway group.

Wout van Aert (Visma – Lease a Bike), Michael Woods (Team PremierTech), and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) were among the riders who launched breakaway attempts.

With 100 kilometers remaining of today’s stage a nine-man group had fought its way to a small advantage. The riders were Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Oscar Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-QuickStep), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula), Louis Meintjes (Wanty), Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich), Harold Tejada (Astana), and Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma). Their advantage, however, was only ten seconds at this point and leading riders in the general classification were spotted at the front of the main peloton. The speed was intense, and all riders were on high alert.

Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos-Grenadiers) bridged to the front group and joined the hard work. The ten-man front group continued to increase their time advantage partially because of their own hard work, and partially due to the main peloton letting the riders slide away while riding at a controlled pace. With eighty kilometers remaining, the front group had fought its way to a lead of more than six minutes.

The front group continued their fare through the hilly territory that featured stunning views and beautiful forest terrain. When 65 kilometers remained, the riders had fought their way to an increased lead of more than eight minutes.

The breakaway group had built such a large time advantage, it would appear the stage winner would now be found within this group.

Narvaez attacked solo from the front group with fifty-one kilometers remaining. He was reeled in by Soler and the other breakaway compatriots two kilometers later. Meanwhile, the main peloton was spearheaded by riders from Decathlon-AG2R, closely monitored by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders. Hopefully the Decathlon-AG2R riders wouldn’t push any competitors off their bikes, causing crashes as they did yesterday. Afterall their sponsor AG2R is an insurance company.

Carlos Verona attacked solo when the breakaway group reached the Category One climb that would take the riders to the finish line. Marc Soler tried to counter, but was reeled in. Verona carried on solo. Oscar Rodriguez tried to close the gap but apparently blew a fuse and suddenly found it difficult to hang on.

Verona was caught, Castrillo counterattacked, and Soler and Rodriguez tied to join the Spaniard. Rodriguez still had energy in his legs and had possibly just been faking it when he got dropped moments earlier.

Castrillo left the other riders behind on the climb and Schmid was the first chaser fifteen seconds behind Castrillo when five kilometers of the climb remained. The chase group was thirty-four seconds behind the front Spaniard. The toughest incline percentages still awaited the riders in the final two kilometers.

Narvaez attacked from the chase group 4.5 kilometers from the finish line. Schmid and Poole joined the Ecuadorian. Soler bridged too. Meanwhile, the Decathlon-AG2R team was spearheading the main peloton. 

Castrillo reached the final two kilometers solo with a time advantage of twenty-eight seconds. The final two kilometers featured incline percentages of almost eight percent.

Castrillo entered the final kilometer with a lead of approximately half a minute. The Kern Pharma rider was suffering on the climb. Would his fighting spirit prevail?

Pablo Castrillo crossed the finish line in solo fashion as winner of stage 12 of Vuelta a Espana 2024. Max Poole was next to reach the stage finish a few seconds later. Marc Soler completed the stage podium, followed by Mauro Schmid.

The main peloton approached the stage finish approximately five minutes behind the stage winner. Richard Carapaz spearheaded the main peloton on the climb. He was aiming to take back some of the seconds he lost in yesterday’s stage after aggressively being pushed by a rider from Decathlon-AG2R.

The general classification favorites reached the finish line together. One more stage of this year’s La Vuelta was in the history books and Ben O’Connor was still the race leader. Primoz Roglic was second, while Enric Mas is in third place. Richard Carapaz was fourth, and Mikel Landa fifth.

Riders in the Vuelta peloton will continue in mountainous terrain in Friday’s stage 13 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024. A 176-kilometer stage from Lugo to Puerto de Ancares starts with a Category Three climb, features 2 Category Two climbs, and concludes with a Category One climb, on the top of which the stage winner will be found and the general classification possibly reshuffled, not least because of climb gradients of up to almost fifteen percent.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for additional coverage from Vuelta a Espana 2024.

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