Vuelta a España stage 12: Juan Ayuso beats Javier Romo in two-up breakaway sprint to secure victory

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) outsprinted breakaway partner Javier Romo (Movistar) to win stage 12 of the Vuelta a España.

Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) spent more than 22km in a solo chase to close down the Spanish duo and settled for third place, 13 seconds back. Just four seconds behind the young Frenchman, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) edged Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) as the top rider from a 16-rider chase group.

Romo led the pair with 500 metres to go, but was passed by Ayuso on the final sweeping corner to the finish in Los Corrales de Buelna, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider earning his second stage victory of this Vuelta. Romo reacted by pounding his fist on his handlebars to miss the mark.

The peloton was ripped apart in the opening kilometres from the start in Laredo, with large lead groups, with 52 riders leading the charge before a reduced breakaway of six riders took shape with under 30km to go at the base of the Collada de Brenes. On that climb, Ayuso and Romo went from chasers to leaders and ushered the way to the two-up sprint finish in northern Spain.

Race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) never seemed to panic as a trio of teammates ushered him across the finish line in a large group of contenders, 6:22 off the winning pace. He retained the race lead with the same 50-second margin over João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and 56 seconds ahead of Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling). Bruno Almirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), who finished in the main chase group, moved to sixth overall, now just five seconds behind his teammate Felix Gall, and 2:22 behind Vingegaard.

Having stirred controversy earlier in the Vuelta that he might leave his UAE team well before his contract ends, Ayuso was focused on showing off his climbing abilities on Thursday, but recognised his teammate Soler in positioning him with 3km to go on the final climb to make a decisive move.

"[That's] where the hardest part of the climb is, and also where you have a bit more tailwind instead of headwind. Soler did a great job putting the pace and trying to control a break that was nearly as big as a peloton," Ayuso said to broadcasters at the finish.

"So thanks to him, I could have the race more or less under control until I decided to go."

The stage victory added to UAE's season total, now 81 wins. Far different from his solo effort to win stage 7 on the mountaintop finish at Cerler, Ayuso had to contend with Romo, who had not won a race since stage 3 of the Tour Down Under.

"After such a hard day, I had to play my cards. I already won a stage, and he had to pull more if he wanted to arrive [first]. I was told from the car to play like this," Ayuso said about escaping with fellow Spaniard Romo.

"Sometimes you have to play smart, and that's what I did in the final. The sprint I did quite well. I know this road a lot, because it's where it finishes in the junior races, so I knew how to time my sprint, and it went out perfectly."

How it unfolded

Thursday's Vuelta stage rolled from the Cantabrian seaside town of Laredo as scheduled, with cloudy conditions on the ground as well as overhead. Anxiety seemed to linger as dozens of pro-Palestine protesters were present for another day, but police presence kept the atmosphere calm, far different than the tension after stage 11 when no winner was recognized after a late neutralisation due to protestors at the finish line.

The peloton still felt urgency with the task of making this stage count, so attacks were launched quickly on stage 12 to make all the 146 kilometres count to Los Corrales de Buelna. After just 2.5km, the first uncategorised climb came into view, and 16 riders tried to get away.

Two major climbs punctuated the stage - category 2 Puerto de Alisas (8.6km at 5.9%) with 104.5km to go and first-category Collada de Brenes (7km at 7.9%) with 24km to the finish.

Approaching Puerto de Alisas, a large group of 18 riders pushed away from the front of the peloton. Juan Ayuso with Marc Soler and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched from the peloton, with a counter by Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and several others to make it 35 riders at the front.

Three riders in the chase went down in an unusual uphill crash, Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers), Matt Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) and Hugo De La Calle (Burgos-Burpellet-BH), with a few others delayed, but they were able to remount.

As more riders bridged to the back and then dropped off in the chaotic procession, the composition of leaders continued to change, and with 75km to go another chase group joined the front bunch for a massive selection of 52 riders.

Movistar had five riders now at the front, with four riders each representing Soudal-QuickStep, EF Education-EasyPost and Lotto. UAE Team Emirates-XRG had Ayuso and Soler in the move, with Mads Pederson among a trio for Lidl-Trek. Not present at the front was the Israel-Premier Tech squad.

Behind, Visma-Lease a Bike had Dylan van Baarle controlling the pace of the peloton, 2:43 behind, and the GC top 10 riders not showing any cards by the mid-point of the stage.

On the unclassified 3.1km climb of Alto de Hijas, Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar) attempted to steal away, but his move lasted a few kilometres, with his effort closed down by Lidl-Trek. Now with 50km to go, the head of the race had an advantage of 4:40.

The lone intermediate sprint of the day, in Barrios, kept the pace high, Lidl-Trek continuing to set the pace for Pedersen and a hefty haul of 20 more points to pad his lead in the points classification. And why slow down after the effort? Pedersen continued his momentum to shake up the lead group, small bands of elastic threatening to break the big group apart as they passed under the finish banner for a circuit that would bring the final climb of the day.

It took a little of real estate, but six riders went clear for a manageable breakaway - James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), Michel Hessmann (Movistar), Finlay Pickering (Bahrain-Victorious), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) and Victor Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

With 31km to go, the group had 30 seconds on chasers and began their effort on the final climb, featuring a very narrow, rough road. With 5km to the top of Collada de Brenes, Shaw accelerated with a counter by Rolland, and the duo opened a small gap on the other four. Pickering slowly closed that gap to match pedal strokes as the trio moved away from Herrmann and Sheffield on a section at 10% gradient, and Guernalec no longer attached.

Soler led the main chase group with Ayuso on his wheel, now just 30 seconds back.

The final climb

It was Ayuso who accelerated next, this time Movistar's Javier Romo on his wheel and the duo went together with 2.5km to the top of the climb and took over the race lead.

Visma-Lease a Bike continued to set the tempo of the reduced peloton, now 5:10 back on the climb, Ben Tulett at the front with Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss and Vingegaard.

With 1.2km of climbing remaining, Ayuso looked back to detect French rider Rolland's effort to reach the pair, having about 15 seconds to make up. Another 20 seconds back Soler rode in a group with Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost), Pickering, Abel Balderstone (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla).

The Spanish lead duo distanced Rolland, still in no-man's land, and the chase group on the tricky decent from Collada de Brenes through the village of Los Llares. With 16km to the finish at Los Corrales de Buelna, the margin was 50 seconds to the Soler group, now with Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) on board. Pederson, Buitrago and Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) caught the group on the descent for a group of 12.

With 8km to go, Ayuso and Romo worked together on the flat road to the finish, no cat and mouse games to slow them down, but Rolland continued in the solo chase just 16 seconds back. The Frenchman only gained a few seconds more, as the Spaniards sprinted on the twisting flat road to end the day's battle, Ayuso saving plenty in the tank for the win.

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