Defiant Juan Ayuso doubles up at Vuelta a España
Juan Ayuso's future at the Vuelta looked in doubt when he labelled his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team a 'dictatorship' earlier in the week, but the Spaniard notched up his second win of the race on stage 12. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) remains in the red jersey.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has been the focus of so much attention on this Vuelta a España, and his main character energy remains resolutely intact after he outsprinted Javier Romo (Movistar) to win stage 12 in Los Corrales de Buelna.
The Spaniard’s fractious departure from UAE and the early collapse of his GC challenge have been the headline stories of his Vuelta, but he has also underlined his ability by chipping in with two stage wins.
Like at Cerler on stage 7, Ayuso’s win here came from the early break. He was part of a move of 52 riders that formed after a high-octane opening to the stage, and he attacked with intent on the category 1 climb of Collada de Brenes with 27km remaining.
Romo bridged up to him shortly afterwards, and the pair rode together on the remaining 4km of the ascent. By the summit, they had a lead of 30 seconds or so over a chasing group that included Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), while Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) chased alone at 15 seconds.
Ayuso and Romo stretched out their advantage on the long descent off the climb, and by the time the road flattened out, their lead had yawned out to 50 seconds over Landa et al.
In the closing kilometres, there was some visible disagreement between Ayuso and Romo over whose responsibility it was to set the pace, which briefly offered Rolland a chance to regain contact, but the Spanish pairing had enough in hand to fight out the stage win between them.
Once Romo was forced to lead out the sprint, the result never seemed in doubt, and Ayuso sprinted past to claim UAE's 78th win of the 2025 season. Rolland came home third at 13 seconds, while Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) won the sprint for fourth at 17 seconds.
There were no frissons among the GC men, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) finished safely in the peloton to retain the red jersey. 50 seconds ahead of João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and 56 up on Tom Pidcock (Q36.5). The race tackles the mighty Angliru on Friday.
How it unfolded
On the eve of the Vuelta’s ascent of the Angliru, there was never likely to be a shortage of willing attackers on stage 12, and there was a typically bracing pace as soon as the race left the start in Laredo.
The peloton continued to splinter and reform through the opening hour of racing, and it fragmented still further on the day’s first classified ascent, the Puerto de Alisas. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) led Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) at the top, and over the other side, the front group swelled to some 52 riders – not so much a breakaway as a miniature peloton.
The notable names aboard included Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos), Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) and green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
Indeed, 22 of the Vuelta’s 23 teams were represented, with Israel-Premier Tech – the subject of human rights protests throughout this race – the only team to miss the move.
Pedersen duly hoovered up the points at the intermediate sprint, and the group fractured soon afterwards, with Sheffield, Michel Hessman (Movistar), James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Finlay Pickering (Bahrain Victorious) and Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) holding a lead of 35 seconds over the rest at the foot of the category 1 Collada de Brenes.
The complexion of the race changed once the gradient began to bite, and there was a rare show of cohesion from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, as Soler set a fierce tempo that brought his teammate Ayuso back up towards the leaders.
When Soler swung off, Ayuso attacked with 4km of the climb remaining, blasting past the leaders. He was joined soon afterwards at the head of the race by Javier Romo (Movistar), while Rolland gamely stalked them the rest of the way up the climb.
Dunbar led the chase behind, and the Irishman crested the summit with Pickering, Castrillo, Soler, Dunbar, Landa and Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost), 30 seconds down on Ayuso and Romo.
Over the other side, however, Ayuso and Romo stretched out their advantage, and it all came down to a two-up sprint. Ayuso had raced in the area as a junior under the tutelage of UAE sports manager and Cantabrian native Matxin Joxean Fernandez.
He will leave Matxin’s stable at the end of this year, but on this evidence, there might be more success before he signs off on his turbulent time at UAE, Almeida's GC ambitions notwithstanding.
