Extended Highlights - Stage 12 - La Vuelta 2024

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Discover the Stage 12 highlights

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00:00After several days for the breakaway and a fine victory for Eddie Dunbar yesterday, the
00:05GC favourites could finally battle it out for stage honours this afternoon.
00:09Ben O'Connor lost just over 30 seconds to his rivals, but he still tops the standings
00:14by 3 minutes 16.
00:15It's a solid cushion, even if it has been shrinking little by little.
00:20I think we can still go very far and we hope to go all the way.
00:24Is today's final climb a bit less stressful?
00:27Yes, I think there will be smaller gaps than yesterday because the climb isn't very hard
00:32apart from the last bit.
00:33We'll see how it goes, but I think it should suit Ben better.
00:39Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe lit things up yesterday for Primoz Roglic and they will no doubt be
00:44the ones taking the fight to O'Connor on the final climb.
00:48We need to make the race hard for Decathlon, for Ben O'Connor.
00:52So what we were doing yesterday also, try to gain every day as much as we can.
00:59There are still a few very difficult stages, also steep climbs, we will see, but of course
01:06we will try to the end.
01:08Today's stage isn't really one for the pure climbers like Mikel Landa and the Spaniard
01:12says that O'Connor is unlikely to lose any significant time.
01:18Today I think a rider like O'Connor can actually defend very well.
01:21He's strong on climbs like this and I don't think we're going to surprise him.
01:25It's a very short stage.
01:28The finish isn't very hard but it's so short that it's bound to be very fast.
01:34UAE are a bit further down the standings with Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov, but the latter
01:38says he's in excellent shape and just waiting for his moment, possibly later in the race.
01:45Everything depends on how we race today's climb.
01:48If it's fairly controlled it's going to be hard to open up any real gaps, but I hope
01:53that the GC leaders will attack each other and we'll have a bit of action.
01:58I think it's going to be another day where the battle for the breakaway will be crucial.
02:05At just over 137km, stage 12 is the shortest road stage of this Vuelta, but it still features
02:11more than 3,000 metres of climbing.
02:13The final hike to the Manzanera Mountain Resort is 15km at under 5%, though there are
02:19some steep pinches at up to 12%, notably in the last few kilometres.
02:23That's where we might see some fireworks between the favourites.
02:30Fast-paced starts are becoming a habit at this Vuelta and today was no exception.
02:35Plenty of riders trying to go up the road, including several who were part of yesterday's
02:39big breakaway.
02:41As usual, Decathlon 82R and the other top GC teams had to green light the move.
02:46It took around 40km, but ten riders eventually got away and they didn't pose any major threat
02:51to the red jersey.
02:53The highest placed overall was Harold Tejada at 17.5 minutes.
02:59Marc Soler was also in there, along with Max Puhl, Jonathan Narvaez and Carlos Verona who
03:04all finished in the top ten yesterday.
03:06Two men attempted to bridge across, Mike Woods and Lauren Hoyes, but it wasn't easy on this
03:11lumpy terrain.
03:13The ten breakaway riders gradually pulling away from the peloton and with 80km to go,
03:18they led by over six and a half minutes.
03:23Woods and Hoyes eventually gave up the chase and rolled back to the peloton, a peloton
03:27which apparently had no interest in the day's stage victory.
03:32Of course, that wouldn't stop O'Connor's rivals from attacking him in the final because they
03:36still have a fair chunk of time to claw back on the Australian between now and Madrid.
03:45Decathlon 82R were left to pace the bunch and they quietly let the gap swell out to
03:49ten minutes, meaning Tejada could potentially climb into the top 15 overall, having started
03:55the day in 21st.
03:59The breakaway still cooperating nicely as they rolled through the intermediate sprint
04:02with 36km to go, but they would start attacking each other soon enough.
04:08Just before the final climb, there was a change of tempo in the peloton meanwhile, with the
04:12GC teams all lining up and the gap dropping to nine minutes.
04:19Red Bull even putting a man on the front, perhaps with the intention of setting something
04:24up for Roglic.
04:27On to the base of the climb of the day, up to the ski station to Manzanera, 15.4km long,
04:34an average of 4.7%.
04:38It didn't take long for the breakaway to start attacking each other on the climb, with Solaire
04:42and Verona both trying their luck.
04:46But the most impressive move came from Pablo Castrillo of Kern Pharma, who has been lively
04:50throughout this race.
04:52The Swiss champion, Mauro Schmidt, trying to chase down the Spaniard, trailing by around
04:5710 seconds, with the rest of the breakaway at half a minute.
05:01Heading into the final 5km, Castrillo was resisting superbly.
05:06Schmidt was unable to make the catch and he was soon joined by Narváez, Paul and Solaire,
05:11but they weren't bringing the gap down, Castrillo closing on the most unexpected and the most
05:16emotional victory of this Vuelta so far.
05:20He's about to delight a nation here in Vuelta a España.
05:23He's only got 50 metres to go and on one of the saddest days for this team, the wildcard
05:29team is going to have their victory.
05:32This is one for Manolo Azcana.
05:35Pablo Castrillo, the 23-year-old on Grand Tour debut, is a Grand Tour stage winner.
05:45What a remarkable day for Kern Pharma.
05:48Not only is this the first ever Grand Tour victory for the team, it happened to come
05:51on the day that they announced the passing of their former president, Manolo Azcana.
05:56He founded the team as the Galibie Cycling Association, which later became Lizarte and
06:01Kern Pharma, developing top riders like Marc Solaire, Richard Carapaz and of course the
06:06day's winner, Castrillo.
06:09I can't believe I've won a stage of my first Vuelta.
06:15I want to dedicate this victory to the whole team, to my family and above all to a very
06:20special person, Manolo Azcana, who sadly died last night.
06:24All day long I was thinking about winning this stage for him.
06:29Castrillo announcing himself to the world with a first professional victory and the
06:33first Spanish win this year.
06:35Paul was on the stage podium for the second day running, with Solaire third for the second
06:39time in three days.
06:43In the end there was no battle between the GC favourites, with the climb not quite hard
06:46enough to warrant attacks.
06:48O'Connor remains three minutes 16 ahead of his nearest challenger Roglic, with Enric
06:52Mas third at 3.58.
06:56It was a quiet day in the points classification, where Wout van Aert maintains a healthy lead
07:00over Caden Groves.
07:05Not much to report in the mountains classification either, with Adam Yates still leading on 22
07:11points.
07:12Spain had the day's winner and they also have the race's best young rider in Carlos Rodriguez.
07:17Lennart van Aert felt abandoned today, so it's now a three horse race.
07:23Today may have ended in a GC stalemate, but tomorrow's final climb up the Puerta de Ancares
07:28will definitely shake things up.
07:30Join us for that on Friday and thanks for watching.