Vuelta a Espana: Geniez wins stage 12

It was another fruitful day for the breakaway on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, as Alexandre Geniez (AG2R La Mondiale) claimed stage honours and Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) rode himself into the overall lead of the race.

For the fifth time at this Vuelta, the day’s main breakaway went all the way to the line: Geniez and Herrada were part of an 18-rider group that formed on the early Alto de Cadeira, one of two third-category climbs on a typically undulating stage in Galicia.

Having clashed over responsibilities the previous day, Movistar and the Mitchelton-Scott team of race leader Simon Yates allowed the gap to ease out to the 11-minute mark before picking up the tempo in the final hour of racing.

Geniez was alert when the breakaway group was reduced to eight with 25km remaining, and rolled with the punches in an aggressive final 10km. He edged out Dylan Van Baarle (Team Sky) in a tight sprint for the line on a narrow finishing straight, with Mark Padun finishing third after accompanying Bahrain-Merida teammate Vincenzo Nibali in the break.

Herrada missed the boat when the break split with 25km remaining and eventually finished 2:32 down on the Geniez group but still 9:05 ahead of the peloton, where all the general classification contenders rolled in together. Having started the day 22nd overall at 5:45, the Spaniard now finds himself in the red jersey, some 3:22 ahead of Yates and a further second clear of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

"I was never at all confident of winning," said Geniez, who had to fight back on numerous occasions when the attacks started in the break.

The Frenchman was prominent when Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) forced the pace over the Alto de San Pedro with 50km to go, but initially missed out when Formolo went clear with Padun, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal), and Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) after the intermediate sprint 25km from the line, eventually getting across with Van Baarle, Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), and Dylan Teuns (BMC).

That group of eight moved 1:30 clear before starting to attack each other constantly once through the 10km-to-go-banner, and Geniez looked to have missed a crucial split with 6km to go, as Padun, Teuns, Campenaerts, and Formolo slipped away. However, he and Van Baarle clawed their way across once more.

Teuns accelerated on a late rise just shy of the flamme rouge and Geniez was alive to it before opening the sprint. Van Baarle was his closest challenger but, legs perhaps sapped after being briefly dropped by that Teuns' acceleration, was never able to get around.

"It's a relief," said Geniez, now a three-time Vuelta stage winner after wins in the 2013 and 2016 editions. "We decided at the Giro d'Italia that I'd go for GC, so it was difficult to go for stages, but what I enjoy in cycling is fighting for victory."

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