Juan Ayuso repeats victory in La Vuelta 2025

The Vuelta presented a tricky stage on the way to Los Corrales de Buelna, in the heart of the Cantabrian mountains, but the favorites avoided the fight with their sights set on the Asturian double they will face starting tomorrow. Instead, there was a beautiful battle among the mini peloton that formed one of the largest breakaways in recent memory, with high-profile names and a victory for Juan Ayuso who aims to make people talk about cycling and not his departure from UAE.

Favorites avoid the fight and set their sights on the Angliru

Tranquility returned to La Vuelta after the incidents of the previous day, with an interesting stage through Cantabrian lands with three well-defined parts. The start aimed to climb the Alisas mountain pass to establish the breakaway of the day. An intermediate section with constant ups and downs, and the finish, with the ascent to the extremely tough Collada de Brenes and its subsequent technical and dangerous descent, which could provide a great spectacle.

A fast start, with many attacks knowing it was a good day for a breakaway, and even before Alisas began, a large group had formed at the front. This group grew during the climb as riders bridged the gap from behind. As expected at this stage of La Vuelta, there was a lot of quality with names like Pedersen, Marc Soler, Juan Ayuso, 4 Movistar riders: Castrillo, Romo, Hessmann, Canal; Magnus Sheffield, Kwiatkowski, Küng…

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If that wasn't enough, after the pass, another large chasing group formed with a fifth Movistar rider, García Cortina; Mikel Landa, Markel Beloki, Vansevenant managed to bridge the gap to the front, forming a breakaway of over 50 riders.

On the way to the first pass through the finish line at Los Corrales de Buelna, there were several broken terrain sections where attacks tried to select the breakaway and make the race clear for the tough final climb. Along the way, Pedersen continued to accumulate points in the Intermediate Sprint and secure the green jersey more each day.

A small group consisting of Hessmann, Sheffield, Shaw, Pickering, Brieuc Rolland, and Guernalec started the climb with a 40-second advantage, allowing them to dream of causing an upset. However, halfway up the climb, a powerful Marc Soler once again played a decisive role by setting a devastating pace that paved the way for Juan Ayuso's attack.

The rider from Alicante launched his attack, but something didn't go according to plan as, with a very solid pace, he managed to reach the wheel of a strong Javi Romo. From there to the finish line, after a moment of hesitation in a descent where, as Ayuso himself said at the finish line, "you have more to lose than to gain," a tremendous marking battle ensued between the two, with the UAE rider playing the card of already having a stage victory, leaving the burden of pulling to the Movistar rider while both felt the breath of Brieuc Rolland, who showed great determination to fight for the stage until the end.

Behind, Markel Beloki and Mikel Landa tried to push the group forward but barely managed to reduce the gaps, so the victory would ultimately be decided in a two-man sprint where Juan Ayuso's superior speed prevailed clearly over Javi Romo.

A few minutes later, the main peloton arrived, led by the Visma-Lease a Bike team, without any significant movements, leaving the battles for the red jersey for the fearsome ramps of the Angliru that the race will face tomorrow.

Stage 12 Classification

1. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3h16'21''
2. Javier Romo (Movistar)+00''
3. Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) +13''
4. Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) +17''
5. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +17''
6. Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +17''
7. Damien Howson (Q36.5) +18''
8. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +18''
9. Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost) +18''
10. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) +18''

General Classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 44h36'45''
2. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +50''
3. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5) +56''
4. Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'06''
5. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +2'17''
6. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +2'23''
7. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2'26''
8. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'30''
9. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2'33''
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'44''