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Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) outsprinted his Spanish compatriot Javier Romo (Movistar) to win stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, his second stage win of this year’s race, with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retaining the overall lead.
Palestine flags were in evidence again after protests had brought Wednesday’s stage to a premature end but the race passed without serious incident, while the Israel-Premier Tech team have said pulling out of this year’s Vuelta would “set a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling” in reaction to the incidents on stage 11.
Ayuso, who went solo to win stage seven, had Romo for company for the final 25km of the 144.9km ride from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna, after the pair got away from a large leading group, and timed his final move to perfection to overtake Romo close to the line.
“After such a hard day, you don’t know, and I had to play my cards,” Ayuso said, adding that his team car had instructed him to ride tactically and make Romo believe he would need to “pull more” if he wanted a chance of winning the stage. “I had to make him a bit nervous,” he said.
Ayuso has had an eventful Vuelta so far. Aside from his two stage wins, the 22-year-old was seen as an overall contender but has lost chunks of time after getting dropped on climbs. The Spaniard’s impending exit from UAE Team Emirates was announced on Monday’s rest day, timing that was heavily criticised by Ayuso, who accused his team of acting “like a dictatorship”.
France’s Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) came in 13 seconds behind in third on the day, having threatened to bridge the gap in the final kilometres. Denmark’s Vingegaard finished safely in the peloton which ambled in over six minutes behind the stage laders.
There was no change at the top of the general classification, with Vingegaard maintaining his 50sec lead over Portugal’s João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and the Briton Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) a further 6sec back in third.
