Ayuso claims second stage win at Vuelta as Vingegaard holds red jersey

Spain’s Juan Ayuso clinched his second victory of this year’s Vuelta a España by edging compatriot Javier Romo in a breakaway finish on stage 12, while overall leader Jonas Vingegaard safely defended his advantage, Sport360NG reports.

The 22-year-old, who also triumphed on stage seven and will leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the end of the season, attacked on the final climb with 26km remaining of the 144.9km route from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna. Romo managed to stay on his wheel but could not overtake Ayuso in the sprint. France’s Brieuc Rolland completed the podium, finishing 13 seconds behind, while Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts led home a reduced chase group.

“I’d already taken a stage, so he needed to do more work if he wanted it,” Ayuso told TNT Sports. “The car told me to ride it this way. It’s not my favourite style, holding back on the collaboration, but sometimes you need to be smart. I timed the sprint perfectly.”

Six minutes later, Vingegaard rolled across the line alongside his Visma–Lease a Bike teammates and fellow general classification contenders, including Joao Almeida and Britain’s Tom Pidcock.

The finish was lined with pro-Palestinian flags, though the race passed without disruption. A day earlier, stage 11 had been neutralised three kilometres from the finish due to protests on the road into Bilbao.

Attention now turns to Friday’s stage 13, the second-longest of the race at 202.7km. It ends with the notorious Alto de l’Angliru, where gradients climb above 20% and the battle for the overall title is expected to intensify.

Stage 12 results

Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:16:21

Javier Romo (Spa/Movistar) same time

Brieuc Rolland (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +13s

Victor Campenaerts (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) +17s

Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl–Trek) +17s

Nico Denz (Ger/Red Bull–Bora-Hansgrohe) same time

Damien Howson (Aus/Q36.5 Pro Cycling) same time

Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain Victorious) same time

Markel Beloki (Spa/EF Education–EasyPost) same time

Pablo Castrillo (Spa/Movistar) same time

General classification after stage 12

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma–Lease a Bike) 44:36:45

Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +50s

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

Torstein Træen (Nor/Bahrain Victorious) +1:06

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2:17

Bruno Armirail (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2:23

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma–Lease a Bike) +2:26

Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull–Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:30

Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl–Trek) +2:33

Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull–Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:44