'That's just statistics': Omrzel plays down Pogacar comparison after becoming Slovenia's youngest Grand Tour stage winner

Jakob Omrzel announced himself on the Grand Tour stage with a solo victory on Calar Alto, winning stage 12 of the Vuelta a España at just 20 years old.

The Bahrain Victorious rider rode clear on the final climb and became the youngest Slovenian to win a Grand Tour stage, while also moving to the top sixth place overall in his first three week race.

"I'm not surprised, because I know how much work I've put in and I knew that this day was going to come sooner or later," Omrzel told reporters after the finish.

"But for sure I was not expecting it in the first Grand Tour. I still can't believe what I did, but I felt super good. I'm still feeling okay. I'm not tired. I'm just enjoying the moment."

The victory is the latest step in a remarkably quick rise for the rider from Novo Mesto. Bahrain Victorious had initially planned a more gradual path into the professional ranks, but Omrzel's performances accelerated that timeline.

In 2025, he won the Giro Next Gen and its young rider classification, beat Slovenia's established professionals to the national road title, won GP Capodarco and finished fourth overall at the Tour of Slovenia. A year earlier, he had won Paris Roubaix Juniors.

Yet when Omrzel spoke to Domestique in January, his focus was still on learning rather than collecting major results.

"With guys like Matej Mohorič, Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago, there's so much experience and attention to detail. My job is to listen and soak everything in," he said at the time.

Two of those riders, Bilbao and Buitrago, were alongside him in Thursday's large breakaway, which also included Wout van Aert, João Almeida, Léo Bisiaux and Alexey Lutsenko.

Bahrain Victorious used its numbers throughout the stage before Omrzel finished the job on Calar Alto.

"The team Bahrain, we are really great as riders. We understand each other really well and at the moment we are working so good together. The whole team is just perfection," Omrzel said.

"We said that we are playing PlayStation and that's what we are doing at the moment. What we want, we do. We go in the breakaway and with Pello, Santi and the other guys, it's just amazing. I'm really proud of them."

Buitrago finished third after spending much of the day battling Van Aert for mountains points. The Belgian took maximum points at the Alto del Cabecico, but Buitrago responded with the full ten points on the Alto de Velefique before helping drive the break on towards Calar Alto.

Omrzel's age inevitably invited comparisons with Tadej Pogačar, who was also 20 when he won his first Grand Tour stage at the 2019 Vuelta.

Omrzel, however, was not interested in reading too much into it.

"That's just statistics. It doesn't mean anything else. But it's a nice statistic," he said.

Eight months after saying he was in no hurry to chase Grand Tour glory, Omrzel has already won a stage in his first one.