Vuelta a España Stage Report: Pablo Castrillo won stage 12 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday. The 23-year-old Spaniard was the strongest of a leading group of ten on the final climb to Manzaneda. This was his first victory as a professional. For the small Spanish Kern Pharma team it was also an emotional victory as the president of the Kern Pharma company, Manola Azcona, had passed away during the night.
The final kilometre of stage 12
Vuelta race director, Fernando Escartín: “Those who are part of the escape will have many more options for victory in this winding stage that begins along the Ribeira Sacra and ends with the climb up to the Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda. Those who do well in the mountain pass will have the possibility of winning the stage.”
Stage 12 profile
Stage 12: The finish of the 12th stage is at the ski resort of Montana de Manzaneda. The stage goes from 224 metres to an altitude of 1,500 metres. There is only one categorised climb on the route, but the rest of the stage is flat. In the first few kilometres there is a lot of climbing. The first 3 kilometres are a climb to Montealegre with an average gradient of around 8%. The peloton rides to an altitude of almost 700 metres. After 110 kilometres, the climb to the ski resort in Manzaneda begins (16km at 4.7%). The final climb isn’t too steep, but that changes at it gets nearer to the top. The road rises at around 3% in the first few kilometres, in the final kilometres it’s never below 7%.
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The stage started without Lotto Dstny’s Lennert Van Eetvelt, he had been struggling with breathing problems for a few days. The race started immediately and there was one attack after another. Wout van Aert was one of the riders who tried to get away, but he missed a dangerous move that went after 20 kilometres.
Last week the Vuelta started a stage in a supermarket, today it was on a bridge in Ourense Termal
And what a bridge!
In that group were Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Óscar Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant (T-Rex Quick-Step), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich-PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) and Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma), but the peloton wasn’t too keen on letting them go. After a battle of 20 kilometres, they were almost caught, but this allowed Rodríguez’s teammate Jhonatan Narváez to join them.
Ben o’Connor was less than pleased about the fines his teammates were given on stage 11
The peloton finally let them go. Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Laurens Huys (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) tried to cross, but ended up stuck between break and bunch. The final break consisted of ten riders and those ten built up a lead of more than 10 minutes. There was no problem for the red jersey, Ben O’Connor and the other GC men, as the best rider in the break was Harold Tejada, who was more than 17 minutes behind the Australian.
Canadian champion, Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), wanted in the break today, but it didn’t work out
The ten would fight for the stage victory, because at the foot of the climb to the Estacion de Montaña de Manzaneda they still had 8 minutes in hand. This would be more than enough to stay ahead of the GC men on the not too steep final climb. Marc Soler saw his chance and attacked after a few kilometres of climbing, although his attempt was unsuccessful. Carlos Verona was the next to try. The Lidl-Trek rider managed to make a gap, but was caught before going again.
The Guardia were busy with a stray dog
The peloton were happy to let the break go, eventually
Verona was solo at the front for a few kilometres, but behind him the race was still on. He was caught and Pablo Castrillo immediately attacked. The other escapees looked at each other for a moment, which helped the 23-year-old to create a big gap. He gained 30 seconds on the chase group, from which Schmid had attacked. The Swiss rider was then joined by Narváez, Poole and Soler, but the four were still at 30 seconds behind Castrillo.
With 40 kilometres to go the break had over 10 minutes
It was a strong ‘break of the day’: Harold Tejada (Astana-Qazaqstan), Óscar Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Jhonatan Narvaéz (INEOS Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Marc Soler (UAE Emirates), Pablo Castrillo Zapata (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)
In the final kilometre, Poole chased hard, but in the end Castrillo had just enough time to cross the line as the winner. The youngster gave his team a big and emotional victory, because before the start, the ProTeam, which started in the Vuelta thanks to a ‘WildCard’, announced that founder, Manola Azcona had died.
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A day for the peloton to take in the view
Poole crossed the line in second place, 8 seconds behind Castrillo. Soler was third, 18 seconds behind the winner. It was more than 6 minutes before the riders GC would arrive. There was no battle in the favourites group. Mattias Skjelmose won the sprint from the group, which still consisted of more than twenty riders. None of the big names were in trouble.
Would it be a bridge too far for the break?
Castrillo went for a solo in memory of his boss – Manola Azcona
Stage winner, Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma): “No, I don’t realise (that he had won). It’s an amazing victory, it’s unbelievable. It’s for the team and for the staff.The breakaway was very hard to make. The other guys were very strong. I was nervous for the finale but I decided to attack on the flat and it led me to the stage victory. I thought about attacking with 7 or 8 kilometres to go but I saw the other guys looking at each other so I went with 10 kilometres. It really is a very special day. I can’t believe I’ve won in my first Vuelta a España. I dedicate this win to my team, to my family and above to all to a very special person, Manolo Azcona, who unfortunately passed away last night. I thought about him the whole stage, to win as a tribute.”
A well fought for win by Pablo Castrillo
Max Poole was second
Overall leader, Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale): “It was a tricky start, it was actually really hard. And then we just controlled the race, made some pace on the final climb. It was quite fast so it wasn’t really ideal for being aggressive but yeah, I felt pretty good today. I never lost confidence! I was annoyed but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in myself. Tomorrow is an extremely hard finish. It will be one of the most important days since the start of this race.”
In memory of Manola Azcona
# Stay PEZ for a super hard Vuelta a España weekend. #
Vuelta a España Stage 12 Result:
1. Pablo Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma in 3:36:12
2. Max Poole (GB) dsm-firmenich-PostNL at 0:08
3. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates at 0:16
4. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla at 0:23
5. Jhonnatan Manuel Narvaez (Ecu) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:34
6. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 0:40
7. Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana Qazaqstan at 0:49
8. Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Lidl-Trek at 1:03
9. Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarché-Wanty at 1:14
10. Oscar Rodriguez (Hon) INEOS Grenadiers at 1:52.
Vuelta a España Overall After Stage 12:
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale in 47:37:35
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 3:16
3. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar at 3:58
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 4:10
5. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 4:40
6. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 5:23
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 5:29
8. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates at 5:30
9. Felix Gall (Aust) Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale
10. George Bennett (NZ) Israel-Premier Tech at 5:46.
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