Spain’s Pablo Castrillo triumphs on mountainous Stage 12 of La Vuelta

Pablo Castrillo clinched victory on Stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana, conquering the mountainous terrain in north-western Spain on Thursday.

Spain’s Pablo Castrillo triumphs on mountainous Stage 12 of La Vuelta

The 23-year-old Spaniard moved ahead towards the end with a stunning attack with 10km to go.

Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma) maintained a distance from the group of four behind him throughout the final part of the brutal ascent to Montana de Manzaneda.

The 23-year-old Equipo Kern Pharma rider, making his Grand Tour debut, approached the final kilometre with a lead of around half a minute and held off 21-year-old Poole on the gruelling ascent to Montana de Manzaneda to win by eight seconds.

In the last hundred meters, realising he would secure his first Grand Tour stage win, he broke into a smile.

“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,” Castrillo said.

Australian Ben O’Connor maintained his lead in the general classification, finishing 14th in the stage.

He kept Slovenian Primoz Roglic at bay, maintaining a gap of three minutes and 16 seconds.

“It was a tricky start, it was actually really hard. And then we just controlled the race, made some pace on the final climb,” O’Connor said.

Stage 12 results

1. Pablo Castrillo (Spa/Equipo Kern Pharma) Three hours 36mins 12secs
2. Max Poole (GB/Team dsm-firmenich-PostNL) +8secs
3. Marc Soler (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +16secs
4. Mauro Schmid (Sui/Team Jayco-AlUla) +23secs
5. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu/INEOS Grenadiers) +34secs
6. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step) +40secs
7. Harold Tejada (Col/Astana-Qazaqstan Team) +49secs
8. Carlos Verona (Spa/Lidl-Trek) +1min 3secs
9. Louis Meintjes (Rsa/Intermarché-Wanty) +1min 14secs
10. Oscar Rodriguez (Spa/INEOS Grenadiers) +1min 52secs

General classification after stage 12

1. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Team) 47hrs 37mins 35secs
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3mins 16secs
3. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) +3mins 58secs
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +4mins 10secs
5. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick-Step) +4mins 40secs
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa/INEOS Grenadiers) +5mins 23secs
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5mins 29secs
8. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +5mins 30secs
9. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Team) Same time1
10. George Bennett (Nzl/Israel-Premier Tech) +5mins 46secs