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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España - it's set to be an exciting day as we head back into the mountains!
Before we get stuck into today's, rather juicy, stage.
Here's a recap of yesterday's breakaway battle.
Vuelta a España: Eddie Dunbar solos to stage 11 victory from breakaway
There was also some movement in the GC standings yesterday, with Primož Roglič clawing back more time on Ben O'Connor and Enric Mas moving up to third.
We'll dive into the GC movers and shakers more once the racing is underway.
Onto today's stage and the neutral start is due in just over 20 minutes time.
The flag drop is estimated for 13:29 BST.
The Vuelta loves a cool stage start location, and today's in Ourense Termal is no different.
🇪🇸 #LaVuelta24A start with a view in Ourense Termal 👀 pic.twitter.com/Be8kj95o43August 29, 2024
Before the neutral start begins here in Galicia, we can confirm one DNS for stage 12.
Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) is reported to have been experiencing significant discomfort in his lungs so has abandoned the race.
Today's stage, at just 137.5km, is the shortest of the 2024 Vuelta a España.
Here's the route for today's short but potentially explosive stage.
Only one categorised climb, but it'll likely be tackled at a ferocious pace.
And the riders have gone for the neutral start here in Ourense Termal.
The town has attracted visitors for the past 2,000 years thanks to its thermal baths where temperatures reach over 60ºC.
We've reached kilometre 0, and the racing is underway!
In no time at all, we've got some escapees.
Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Pau Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma) are attacking.
It looks as though the trio couldn't make it stick. We're all back together again.
There's been a split in the bunch. Movistar are working hard in the second group to bring things back together.
10 second gap currently.
Just as the groups merge again, Wout van Aert sets off in attack.
He's not given much distance before being caught, though.
125km to go
We've had an average speed of 44.3km/h so far.
We sense another drawn out battle for the break today.
Another three riders try their luck.
Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Reuben Thompson (Groupama-FDJ).
Considering the battle for the break, the first point of reward any escapees may reap from is over 80km away at the day's intermediate sprint.
We're back together yet again.
20km of racing so far, and nothing to show from it.
While there might not be much of not happening here in Galicia, our tech team have been busy putting 11 WorldTour-level superbikes through a wind tunnel test to determine which is actually the fastest.
Wind tunnel tested: 11 superbikes go head to head
Nine riders have now pushed on, forcing a small gap, including Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates).
A second seven-man group, including van Aert and Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has managede to slip away.
The leading pack has 30 seconds on the bunch now. The chasers are just 10 seconds behind them and look set to make the bridge.
There are around 25 riders up the road now, split across two groups.
Attacks are still coming from the peloton too, so this might not be over just yet.
The peloton have reeled in the second group, now just nine riders remain up the road with a slender lead.
It wouldn't be surprising if this group is let off down the road.
Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) is the biggest threat on GC at 17:32.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are setting the pace at the front of the bunch.
In fact, Aleksandr Vlasov has just set off on an attack of his own.
Is there something brewing here from Roglič's team?
Red Bull look to be creating a road block, this might be our break for the day.
Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) has made it across to the lead group.
Michael Woods is doing his best to get there too.
The gap back to the bunch is over two minutes.
Woods and Laurens Huys (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) are 39 seconds in arrears of the leaders.
And just like that, we've already ridden 50km today.
Woods and Huys are still fighting to bridge across but they seem to be going backwards.
Four minutes between the leaders and peloton now, with the chase duo a minute back from the lead pack of ten riders.
There might only be one categorised climb today, but the stage is anything but flat.
There's only a handful of kilometres that are flat across the full 137.5km route.
Some strong words from Richard Carapaz after his crash during yesterday's stage.
And breathe! After a frenetic start, things have calmed down now in Galicia.
The gap is on its way towards seven minutes and it looks as if Woods and Huys have aborted their chase attempts.
Now that we've got the day's break settled, let's take a look through the GC standings ahead of today's summit finish.
While there was no change in the red jersey, Roglič clawed back 37 seconds on Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Ben O'Connor.
Meanwhile, Enric Mas' strong display helped him leapfrog a bruised Richard Carapaz into third.
Carlos Rodríguez moved into the lead of the white jersey competition alongside moving up to sixth in the overall standings.
George Bennett, after a strong breakaway showing, was the other big mover, as he jumps up to tenth, still 5:46 in arrears.
Woods and Huys have now been tagged by the peloton.
70km to go
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale are controlling proceedings in the bunch.
The battle for today's break was hectic to say the least!
The gap has gone all the way out to 8:15 now.
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) abandoned today's stage not too long ago.
A second day in the break for Jhonatan Narváez. He's got his teammate Óscar Rodríguez in there for company today too.
This finishing climb might be too tough for the Ecuadorian national champion, though.
25km to go until the intermediate sprint in Sas de Penelas.
Wout van Aert is back at the doctor's car.
Adam Yates could be in danger of losing his polka-dot jersey today.
There are 10 points up for grabs at the finish today, with the UAE Team Emirates rider currently tied-leader with Wout van Aert, and Primož Roglič four points behind.
Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), third on yesterday's stage, could be one to watch for today's finale.
As mentioned earlier, Carlos Rodríguez moved into the white jersey yesterday.
However, the Spaniard only leads Florian Lipowitz by six seconds, meaning the jersey is well in play on today's stage.
50km to go
An attack from Narváez, perhaps to up the pace in the break.
Ten minutes between the lead group and the bunch currently.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale could be attempting to remove any chance of bonus seconds for their GC rivals.
40km to go
"Where are we heading?" we hear you ask!
The Estación de Montaña Manzaneda. It last featured in La Vuelta 13 years ago, when David Moncoutié with a 6km solo on stage 11.
↔️ The gap to the breakaway is now just over 10 minutes!📈 ¡La diferencia de los 10 escapados aumenta hasta los 10 minutos! #LaVuelta24 📸 @cxcling pic.twitter.com/pFQTOBfQBTAugust 29, 2024
The leaders rolled through the intermediate sprint without much competition.
We're struggling to find confirmation of who took the maximum points so far.
Mauri Vansevenant took the full 20 points. He was followed over by Verona, Tejada, Meintjes and Castrillo, taking 17,15,13 and 10, respectively.
A few more hills to tackle and the break will be on the final climb.
25km to go
This was the scene for much of today in the peloton but now we're seeing other GC teams begin to set the pace.
Here's the profile of the climb.
There are several plateaus but that final kicker at 12% will likely be a place where GC contenders will attempt to create fireworks.
The gap has shortened to 8:30 now but it's unlikely that the peloton will reel the break in completely.
With several riders participating in their second breakaway in as many days, could we see fatigue kick in shortly?
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale are back in control of the bunch.
With Ineos having two riders in this 10-man breakaway, could they turn the climb into a numbers' game? Óscar Rodríguez is a Vuelta stage winner before, back in 2018.
Will we see another late attack from Roglič today?
We're on the early slopes of the Estación de Montaña Manzaneda (15.9km at 4.7%.)
Marc Soler is the first to test the rest of the breakaway's legs.
Narváez is quickly on his wheel.
Just as the group came back together, Carlos Verona set off in attack.
His move was stronger than Soler's, but can it stick?
Rodríguez is sitting at the back of the group as Verona goes yet again.
The peloton's gap is trickling back down to seven minutes now.
Verona has 15 seconds worth of a lead.
Soler turns the screw, shredding the gap up to Verona in the process.
Verona is tagged and Castrillo takes it as his cue to launch an attack.
Soler and Rodríguez are attempting to bridge across to Castrillo.
Some riders in the break are really in the red now.
He's been quite quiet today, but Mauro Schmid is the next rider to set off in hunt of Castrillo.
The Spaniard has just over 10 seconds.
8km to go
Plenty of gaps emerging between the escapees now.
Castrillo is still hanging out in front while the rest of the chasing pack decides who wants to work.
Castrillo has benefited from this confusion. He's now 25 seconds ahead of the chasers.
Mauro Schmid is equidistant between the Equipo Kern Pharma rider and the chasers.
🫡 Castrillo - @EqKernPharma is the next to attack! He’s opened a sizeable gap already, while the fight continues behind.⚡️ Y ahora... ataque de @pablocastrillo_! La lucha continua en el grupo aunque consigue abrir una ligera ventaja. #LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/udjfs6AsiJAugust 29, 2024
Rodríguez is setting the pace for the chase group.
5km to go
Castrillo is reportedly without a contract for the 2025 season.
That might change rather quickly after today's showing.
Narváez has attacked from the chase group with Max Poole.
There's a 35-second gap between the main breakaway groups.
There's still the steepest ramp of the climb to come, which reaches 12% in places.
Marc Soler has bridged over to the chase group containing Poole, Schmid and Narváez now.
They still sit 25 seconds behind Castrillo, though.
The Equipo Kern Pharma's head is swinging from side to side, he's in a whole world of pain right now.
The organisation in the chase group is limiting their efforts.
Soler punches out with 2km remaining.
It's 'cat and mouse' in the chase group, this could be the end of their stage hopes.
1200m for Castrillo. He looks to be in a really strong position.
1km to go
31 seconds for the Equipo Kern Pharma rider now. Surely the stage is his?
Just 250m for the 23-year-old.
Max Poole is in pursuit!
But stage 12 of the Vuelta a España goes to Pablo Castrillo.
What a day to get your first professional victory!
The Equipo Kern Pharma man is swarmed by microphones as he catches his breath.
He becomes the 225th Spaniard to win a stage at La Vuelta.
Back in the peloton, there's a fast pace amongst the GC favourites' teams.
Carapaz is the man leading the group home.
It doesn't look like we'll get any big splits between the GC men today. They're saving their efforts for the high mountains ahead.
No time gaps between the GC men today.
Here's the stage standings from today.
There's plenty of tears from the Equipo Kern Pharma team staff and Castrillo himself too.
Speaking at the finish line, Pablo Castrillo said:
"It's an amazing victory. It's unbelievable, this is for the team and staff.
"The breakaway was very hard, it didn't start for 30km. The others in the breakaway were strong guys. I was very nervous for the final, but I decided to attack in the flat and the stage victory [came]."
No movement in the overall standings today.
Ben O'Connor remains in the red jersey for another day, with Roglič 3:16 behind.
Max Poole was third yesterday and second today, here's what he had to say at the finish line:
"[I'm] disappointed, we gave it a good go again today. Disappointed. Ineos had two guys and it's normal that everyone looked at them to close the gap.
"I think immediately after a stage there's always going to be these feelings. To come so close two days in a row is crushing."
Race leader Ben O’Connor wipes away his Twitter account 'because I’m sick of other people’s opinions'. His actions were in response to stage 11 incidents that saw Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) crash and four members of Decathlon - one director and three riders - receive penalties and, in some cases, fines. Decathlon team defend themselves and say they did 'nothing wrong'. Read the latest.
Richard Carapaz says "respect is being lost in the peloton", related to his crash on stage 11 when the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale squad received yellow cards and fines for blocking his attempt to attack.
'A lack of respect' – Richard Carapaz dismayed by Decathlon AG2R's reaction to Vuelta a España crash
Friday's stage 13 heads into higher mountains with 171km stage from Lugo to Puerto de Ancares. Check out the preview.
'Get from A to B as fast as possible' – Ben O'Connor braced for all-out test on Puerto de Ancares
