"Long and grueling" to open up GC battle Jumbo-Visma plan

Stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana will be an important day for the overall classification, and marks the first mountain day of the second week. This will make it a complicated one to manage, as the GC riders are set to go head to head once again.

“The final climb is long and grueling. It will be very warm again and the stage will be long again," team DS Addy Engels said ahead of the 12th stage of the race which will feature a rather flat route, except for the final climb to Peñas Blancas which featues 18.9 kilometers at 6.5% average gradient and can see very big differences emerge. "So it will be a different final climb than we have seen so far in this Vuelta. I expect that a group of escapees will compete for the stage victory."

"Controlling the course is becoming increasingly difficult. Several teams have already lost a number of riders. I expect something from the classification riders tomorrow. Those opportunities that will come must be seized," Engels said. However the Dutch team's eyes are not on stage wins, but on the red jersey.

“When the opportunities are there, we must seize them. The weekend will also be very tough, but it's not like we're saying in advance that we're waiting for that," Engels concluded. Primoz Roglic currently sits in second place in the overall classification 2:41 minutes behind Remco Evenepoel.