Omrzel conquers Calar Alto summit on Vuelta stage 12, as Mas stamps authority in red

Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain-Victorious) climbed to victory from the breakaway on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España at Calar Alto, as Enric Mas (Movistar) landed a significant blow on his GC rivals, strengthening his grip on the red jersey.

Omrzel was part of a 30-rider breakaway that whittled down throughout the stage across five categorised climbs and 4,460m of elevation gain, culminating in a high-altitude showdown above 2,100m at Calar Alto.

He was the highest-placed GC rider in the move, and he went solo with just under 12km remaining, distancing Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma). 

The 20-year-old would ride the rest of the climb with maturity beyond his years, giving Slovenia another reason to cheer following Tadej Pogačar’s withdrawal and securing his first Grand Tour stage win. 

Behind, it was also a pivotal stage for the GC contenders, and it was the race leader Mas who proved his mettle once more with a storming performance in red. 

Decathlon set Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) for an attack with 13km remaining, with only Mas and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) responding. Mas would land the decisive blow with 11km remaining, leaving the duo in his wake.

The race leader looked at home as the gradients continued to rise and the altitude increased, as he powered his way to the finish.

In the end, Mas finished 2:56 behind Omrzel, gaining 27 seconds on Gall, Roglič and Carapaz.

He now leads Roglič overall by 1:45 while Gall is at 2:06. Omrzel has moved up to sixth at 4:59.

The stage began with the news that Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike), Lindsay De Vlyder (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and David González (Pinarello-Q36.5) didn’t take to the start. 

A hyper-aggressive Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) initiated the early salvos, but it was on the slopes of the Alto de Cabecico where the real action ignited. Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) traded blows on the climb, spearheading a relentless flurry of attacks. 

Van Aert claimed maximum points at the top ahead of Buitrago which would become a trend for the first few climbs of the stage.

The definitive move eventually materialised shortly after Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) had suffered a crash on a roundabout with 131km remaining, though the Briton was able to continue. 

30 riders made up the breakaway, with Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain-Victorious) the biggest threat in the GC, having started the stage in tenth, 8:05 behind Mas. Points leader Van Aert and mountains leader Buitrago were also present once more, while stage 7 winner Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) also featured.

The Movistar-led peloton eased up, and the breakaway’s advantage swelled to nearly eight minutes as they reached the base of the Alto de Velefique with 44km remaining.

The punishing gradients of the category one ascent started to shatter the front group. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) were among those who pushed the pace, which saw multiple riders, including Van Aert, fall through the trap door.

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) upped the tempo with 39km remaining, which caused further selection, with Almeida among those distanced. Behind, Movistar's tempo whittled down the red jersey group. 

EF were lurking towards the front, before Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost) launched a slingshot attack from towards the back of the group with 36km remaining, as Iván Romeo (Movistar) continued to set the tempo for Mas.

Omrzel and Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM), the two highest-placed GC riders in the breakaway, pushed on with 34km remaining, as Carapaz’s attack had seen the breakaway's advantage tumble well below the six-minute mark.

Carapaz was reeled in with 32km remaining, as the rest of the breakaway bridged across to the front duo. 

Buitrago claimed maximum points at the summit with the Colombian one of only nine riders remaining at the head of the race, including Omrzel, Bisiaux, Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Jack Haig (Netcompany-Ineos), Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma), Alexey Lutsenko (NSN), Luke Tuckewell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step). The red jersey group was at around five and a half minutes as they reached the summit with 31km remaining.

Buitrago set out his stall early on the final climb, accelerating with 15km remaining, as Berrade, Bisiaux and Omrzel responded.

Decathlon pushed the pace early in the red jersey group, which saw Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) distanced and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) also under pressure. Such was the pressure of the French team; they had four of the final nine riders in the red jersey group.

Gall launched his attack with 13km remaining as Mas and Roglič responded, while Carapaz tried to chase behind.

Omrzel and Berrade left behind their breakaway companions with 12km to go, before the young Slovenian dispatched the Spaniard as he hunted down a maiden Grand Tour stage win.

Gall continued to set the tempo after his attack, before an ice-cold Mas rocketed clear of Gall and Roglič with 11km to go.

Mas would link up with his teammate Garcia Pierna from the breakaway with 9km remaining, as Movistar looked to have played a blinder. 

Carapaz bridged across to Gall and Roglič with 5km remaining, as Tuckwell, Mühlberger and Bisiaux also returned, giving a boost in the chase of Mas, as the road briefly flattened. 

As the road began to rise again with 4km to go, Mas left behind his teammate as he continued to climb his way towards extending his GC lead.

Gall tried one last dig on the steep, exposed section inside the final 2km which Roglič could match, as Carapaz frantically chased, but it would not be enough to catch the race leader who extended his lead overall.