By Score More
Spanish Rider Secures First Professional Victory, O’Connor Maintains Lead in General Classification
Pablo Castrillo, a 23-year-old Spanish cyclist, celebrated the biggest achievement of his young career by winning Stage 12 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday. The victory was not only a personal milestone for Castrillo but also marked the first win for his team, Kern Pharma, in 535 days. Castrillo made his decisive move on the final climb, breaking away from the lead group and holding off challenges from Max Poole (dsm-firmenich) and Marc Soler (UAE Emirates), who finished second and third, 8 and 16 seconds behind, respectively.
Despite the thrilling finish in the stage, the general classification remained unchanged. Ben O’Connor, riding for Decathlon, retained the red jersey, maintaining his 3-minute and 16-second lead over Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora) and a 3-minute and 58-second advantage over Enric Mas (Movistar). The entire peloton allowed the breakaway to go uncontested on the final climb, leading to a truce among the overall contenders.
A Day of Breakaways and Strategic Racing
Castrillo’s victory was hard-earned, as he was part of a 10-rider breakaway group that formed after two earlier attempts failed to stick. The group included strong riders like Marc Soler, Jonathan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), Oscar Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), and Louis Meintjes (Intermarché – Wanty), among others.
As the breakaway pushed towards the finish at the Manzaneda Mountain Station, the Red Bull-Bora team of Primož Roglič set the pace in the peloton, but the narrow roads made it difficult for the main pack to close the gap. The breakaway managed to build a lead of over eight minutes, effectively putting them out of reach and forcing the general classification contenders to abandon any late-stage efforts to catch them.
Castrillo’s Decisive Move
The final climb of the day, a categorized ascent of 15.9 km with an average gradient of 4.7%, proved to be the critical moment. Although Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) initially tried to break away from the lead group, Castrillo quickly bridged the 17-second gap. Once in the lead, the Kern Pharma rider showed remarkable strength, extending his advantage to 30 seconds with 6 km remaining.
Marc Soler, Max Poole, Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), and Jhonatan Narváez attempted a late chase, but Castrillo’s pace was too strong, allowing him to cross the finish line solo and secure a memorable victory.
Calm in the Peloton
While Castrillo celebrated his win, the peloton behind him remained largely passive. Unlike the previous stage, where Primož Roglič had launched a surprise attack to gain time on Ben O’Connor, there were no significant moves among the top contenders. As a result, the general classification standings stayed the same, with O’Connor continuing to wear the red jersey as the race heads into its final stages.
With five stages left, including two challenging mountain stages and a decisive time trial, the battle for the overall victory is far from over. However, for today, all eyes were on Pablo Castrillo, whose breakthrough performance has given his team and fans a day to remember.