Ayuso wins stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana

Juan Ayuso of Spain won stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana in a breakaway victory over Javier Romo, who had previously held the overall lead.

Ayuso, 22, who also won stage seven and will leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the end of the season, was joined by his fellow compatriot as he attempted to go solo on the 149.9km route from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna, about 26 kilometers away from the route’s final destination.

Victor Campenaerts led the 16-man group that had grown out of a larger contingent of over 40 escapees earlier in the day, with France’s Brieuc Rolland coming in third and Romo coming in second.

Ayuso told TNT Sports, “I already won a stage, and he had to pull more if he wanted to win it.”

“From the car, I was instructed to play this,” I said. Although I don’t particularly enjoy it or co-operate fully, you can occasionally play it smart.

I was perfectly aware of my sprint timing.

Along with other GC favorites like Joao Almeida and Britain’s Tom Pidcock, Vingegaard was flanked by his Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates as he returned over six minutes later.

There were no repeats of stage 11 when racing was hampered and three kilometers before the finish in Bilbao. The final 100 meters to the line was marked by a display of pro-Palestinian protest flags.

That reportedly had an impact on race technical director Kiko Garcia’s discussion of the Israel-Premier Tech team given the team’s concern for the safety of the rest of the peloton.

1. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3 hrs 16 minutes 21 secs

2. Same time, Javier Romo (Spa/Movistar).

3. Breek Rolland (Fra/Groupama-FDJ + 13secs)

4. 17secs + Victor Campenaerts (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike)

5. Made by Jen Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) + 17 seconds

6. “Nico Denz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)”

7. Damien Howson (Aus/Q36.5 Pro Cycling) “

8. “Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain Victorious)”

9. “Markel Beloki” (Spa/EF Education-EasyPost) “

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) 44 hrs 36 mins 45 secs

2. XRG + 50secs for Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates).

3. Tom Pidcock (GB/Q36.5 Pro Cycling) + 56secs

4. Thorstein Traeen (Nor/Bahrain Victorious) + 1 min 06 secs

5. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) + 2 min 17 secs

6. Bruno Armirail (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) – 2 min 23 secs

7. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) + 2 minutes, 26 secs

8. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) + 2 minutes, 30 seconds

9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) + 2 minutes, 33 seconds