Not Pogačar, but another Slovenian takes the prize at the Vuelta; Mas deals another blow to rivals

Jakob Omrzel has won the twelfth stage of the Vuelta a España. The twenty-year-old Slovenian from Bahrain Victorious shone from the early breakaway and also made huge gains in the general classification. Red jersey wearer Enric Mas did the same. The Spaniard proved to be significantly stronger than his rivals on the final climb and put a considerable amount of time on them.

Visma | Lease a Bike claimed victory for the third time with a stage win for Matthew Brennan. The Briton was once again perfectly supported by his team, before sealing the win in the sprint. However, there was little in it for the sprinters on the twelfth stage. The stage to Calar Alto featured 4,500 metres of climbing and also had an uphill finish.

Three riders did not start: Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike), Lindsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and David Gonzalez (Pinarello - Q36.5). Hamish McKenzie (Jayco AlUla) also failed to reach the finish: he abandoned the race early on. It looked set to be a battle between the general classification contenders on the challenging course, but the breakaway riders also sensed their chances.

There was plenty of jostling in the opening kilometres, but by the top of the first climb, no leading group had broken away. There, Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) managed to pick up a few points, and shortly afterwards he found himself in the right group: nearly thirty riders had broken away from the peloton.

Van Aert was among them, as were polka-dot jersey wearer Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Mauri Vansevenant (Sodual Quick-Step) and the Uno-X Mobility duo Andreas Leknessund and Tobias Halland Johannessen. Jakob Omrzel, tenth in the general classification, was the most dangerous rival.

Just before that group broke away, the peloton was briefly shaken by a crash. Riders from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Picnic PostNL were involved, but Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) also went down. The Briton, wearing the white jersey and sitting fourth in the general classification, seemed to escape unscathed and rejoined the peloton.

On the second climb of the day, it was more of the same: Van Aert once again managed to beat Buitrago on a short climb and moved up to second place in the mountains classification. Meanwhile, the leading group’s lead increased by several minutes. This meant that Omrzel was virtually within striking distance of the podium, but the pace in the peloton remained slow.

The Collado García was also claimed by Van Aert, who had picked up a total of eleven points and gained four points on Buitrago. The pair rode together briefly after that climb, but were caught again by the chasers. An intermediate sprint in Velefique was once again won by Van Aert, after which the real work began: the Alto de Velefique was a first-category climb. Van Aert dropped back there.

Almeida then significantly thinned out the leading group, but it was Bahrain Victorious that proved to be the strongest team at the front. Omrzel, who even briefly held virtual second place, accelerated and rode for his general classification position. But behind him, the group was already breaking up. Leader Mas had only Iván Romeo left with him. That vulnerability was put to the test by Richard Carapaz.

The Ecuadorian from EF Education-EasyPost launched a blistering attack 36 kilometres from the finish and set off on his own. But Romeo, proving to be rock-solid, did not panic. Riding in support of the red jersey, he maintained a steady pace, closing in on Carapaz. Carapaz was eventually caught, meaning that a group of around fifteen favourites crossed the summit of the Velefique.

At the front, there were still around ten riders left. Buitrago took the full bonus on the first-category climb, which was bad news for Van Aert. The leading group’s lead was still just over five minutes as they reached the foot of the Calar Alto, the final climb. With two of the best climbers in their ranks, Bahrain Victorious were in an excellent position to claim the stage victory.

Once on the final climb, Buitrago went on a relentless attack. He dropped the riders one by one. Behind him, Decathlon CMA CGM took over the work from Movistar. With overwhelming force, they began to hammer away, and soon Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) were dropped. Other team leaders were also finding it tough: the pace was brutal!

In no time at all, only Mas, Carapaz, Onley and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) were able to keep up, whilst Gall still had three (!) domestiques. They rode themselves to exhaustion, after which the Austrian accelerated. Mas and Roglic managed to stay with him, whilst Carapaz and Onley were forced to let a gap open. At the front, Buitrago had dropped back, but it was Omrzel who proved to be the strongest climber.

The 20-year-old Slovenian won last year’s Giro Next Gen and was on the hunt for a sensational victory in his first year as a professional. Behind him, the favourites kept eyeing each other up, allowing Carapaz and Mühlberger to close the gap. Mas wasn’t having any of that, and he launched a massive surge. He immediately dropped Gall and Roglic. And in the blink of an eye, he had already built up a half-minute lead.

He rode up to Raúl García Pierna, his team-mate who was in the breakaway. Pierna took him on the easier sections of the final climb, where Mas was able to stay in his slipstream. Roglic and Gall also received help from Bisiaux and Tuckwell, but it seemed too late. Mühlberger and Carapaz also joined the breakaway, making it two against six.

It soon became one against six, as Mas left his support riders behind. On the less demanding sections, this could have been a disadvantage, but when the gradient steepened again, the Spaniard in the red jersey simply seemed to be in a class of his own. He extended his lead further and further. Gall accelerated once more, but couldn’t shake Roglic off his wheel. The fact that Carapaz rejoined the breakaway again spoke volumes.

At the front, Omrzel was unstoppable. He flew to a sensational stage victory and, moreover, made huge gains in the general classification. Berrade finished second, two minutes behind, but all eyes were on the favourites. Mas, who had slowed down somewhat, crossed the line 2.56 minutes behind the winner and gained 27 seconds on his rivals.

1. Jakob Omrzel