Pablo Castrillo soloed clear of the breakaway on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España to take his first ever pro victory, Kern Pharma’s first ever win in the team’s home Grand Tour, and the home country’s first win in this year’s race.
The 23-year-old Spaniard attacked out of the breakaway group on a flatter section a little ways up the day’s final climb to the Manzaneda ski station, and he held off the attempts of those behind to catch him, crossing the line solo. The win comes less than a day after Kern Pharma announced the passing of former team president Manolo Azcona.
Max Poole (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) took second place on stage 12 with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) in third. Farther down the climb, the GC riders mostly kept their powder dry ahead of some challenging stages to come. Ben O’Connor finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead.
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How it happened
- The stage from Ourense Termal to Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda featured over 3,000 meters of climbing, but only the one categorized ascent to the finish. The early break formed over the course of a frantic hour of attacking and counter-attacking, but then both the escapees and the bunch rode a mostly steady pace all the way to the lower slopes of the last climb.
- Soler kicked off the attacks in the break shortly after the road angled upward, but he was unable to find any space. Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) made the next move and he opened up a small gap before being brought back, and then it was Castrillo’s turn with some 10 km to go. He immediately surged to an advantage over the other breakaway riders.
- Eventually, a few of those behind mounted a more concerted chase, with Soler, Poole, and Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) the next riders on the road behind Castrillo, but the Spaniard would not be denied, and he arrived with time to enjoy the moment atop the climb.
- Behind the break, there seemed to be little interest among the red jersey contenders in trying anything on the first-category finish. A GC group of about 20 riders arrived altogether at the line with no changes inside the top 10 of the general classification.
I was a very nervous for the final but I decided to attack in the flat and … stage victory.
—Pablo Castrillo after the win
Brief analysis
- With so many mountainous days in the race, this has been a Vuelta full of opportunities for breakaway riders, and Thursday’s was yet another stage that got underway with a fierce battle it get into the breakaway. Green jersey Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was among those trying his luck in the early goings, although he missed the move in the end.
- Once the move of the day had finally formed, it was pretty much status quo all the way to the final climb, as if the break was riding a more mountainous Flèche Wallonne. When the attacks did come, they were still some ways from the line. Soler’s move was chased down almost immediately, while Verona was given a bit more breathing room before being brought back. When Castrillo went, he was given what would ultimately prove to be too much breathing room to close down. Perhaps his rivals thought that it was still too far from the line to be overly concerned, but Castrillo made them pay for their hesitation.
- A day after Primož Roglič and several other GC riders clawed back substantial time on race leader O’Connor, things were very quiet back in the red jersey group. With three tough climbs stages to come before the next rest day and another brutal stage right after that, the overall hopefuls must have decided that Thursday was better spent recovering their strength.
Up next
Stage 13 from Lugo to Puerto de Ancares should see some late fireworks. The Puerto de Ancares has an average gradient of 9.3%. In fact, after a much easier first two kilometers, it’s in the double digits basically all the way to the finish line, with some 15% sections along the way. The elevation is nothing to scoff at either. This will be a day with GC implications.
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