Ayuso again! Departing UAE rider wins Vuelta a Espana stage 12 with a sprint

On stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana, Juan Ayuso has taken the victory, beating Spanish compatriot Javier Romo in the sprint. Ayuso had attempted to go solo on the final climb of the day, but had been unable to shake off Romo. But, after what has been a dramatic week for Ayuso off the bike, he managed to pick up his second stage win of the race.

The day started in Lareda, with 145km heading to Los Corrales de Buelna. With 90 kilometres remaining, a large front group of 41 riders had formed, with a chasing group of nine sitting just 30 seconds back. The peloton had eased off the pace and was already slipping more than two minutes behind the leaders. Among those up front were Juan Ayuso, Marc Soler, Victor Campenaerts, and former world champion Mads Pedersen. After descending, the race moved into a flat section of the course. At 60 kilometres to go, the time gaps had settled. The main escape was holding a lead of around three minutes, with 35 kilometres of flat terrain left before the decisive climb of the day, the Collada de Brenes (7 km at 7.9%).

With around 40km to go, Pedersen won the intermediate sprint and kept on attacking in an attempt to whittle down the bloated breakaway. Unfortunately for the Dane, that move didn’t last, and with 30km to go a group of Hessmann, Sheffield, Shaw, Pickering, Rolland and Guernalec were 30 seconds ahead.

With 26km to go though and as the riders hit the climb, Juan Ayuso attacked and went clear into the lead after being lead out by teammate Marc Soler. He could not distance all his rivals however, as Javier Romo was able to join the UAE man. Behind the top two, Finlay Pickering, James Shaw and Brieuc Rolland were dropped, whilst Marc Soler, Pablo Castrillo, Mikel Landa, Markel Beloki, Abel Balderstone and Eddie Dunbar were chasing the leaders. Ayuso and Romo then began to exchange words, with Ayuso wanting Romo to take a turn on the front.

With 23km to go, Landa attacked in an attempt to bridge the gap to the front two. At the top of the climb, Ayuso had been unable to distance Romo and the two would taken on the descent together. Back in the GC group, Visma positioned Vingegaard at the front but there otherwise appeared to be a stalemate between the favourites. Clearly, the GC men were thinking about the daunting day that looms on the horizon on Friday, when the race will taken on a mythical climb.

Despite Landa’s efforts, with 15km to go the gap to Ayuso and Romo was still around the 50 second mark. 3km later, that gap had swelled to a minute. But then something unexpected happened, as Mads Pedersen attacked from a second group of chasers, with the green jersey points still on his mind. The Dane was unable to make a dent in the advantage of the two Spanish leaders, who were set to battle it out for victory at the front. They didn’t have the victory completely guaranteed however, as with 7km to go the television cameras finally picked up the Brieu Rolland was only 16 seconds behind the leaders.

Into the final 4km, and tension between Ayuso and Romo was growing about the length of turns at the front, with both riders keen to save as much as possible. But with 1km to go, the duo were still neck and neck. Given the chasers were closing marginally, the Spanish duo didn't have time to play games with each other. It came down to a sprint, and in the end it was the UAE man Juan Ayuso who exploded away to win his second stage of the race in a controversial week for him!

Tomorrow, the race will head to the climb everyone has been worried about. That’s right, it’s time for the Alto de l’Angliru. Last time the race tackled this climb in 2023, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard dropped their teammate Sepp Kuss in a misty and dramatic day. Will we see more drama tomorrow?