Stage 12

The road

At the start

Manzaneda, the mildest of four

The Cruxeiras cost Ben O'Connor half a minute: his lead over Primož Roglič is 3:16, with Enric Mas at 3:58 and Richard Carapaz at 4:10. Four hard days start here, and this is the gentlest of them — 131 kilometres of rolling Galician road, then fifteen up to Manzaneda, a category 1 climb whose gradients rarely trouble anyone. The rain arrives today and stays until Sunday. O'Connor has circled Friday and Sunday.

How it was won

1. 1111 km to go

   A ten-man break gets clear

   After a fierce fight a ten-rider move including Castrillo and Narváez escapes, the peloton content to let it build a huge lead on the shallow road to Manzaneda.

2. 210 km to go

   Castrillo attacks for Kern Pharma

   Ten kilometres from the summit Pablo Castrillo jumps clear of the break and holds firm as the chase behind hesitates, riding for his Spanish squad on an emotional day.

3. 3At the line

   An emotional win for Castrillo

   Castrillo wrestles his bike to the line for Kern Pharma's first-ever Vuelta stage win, dedicating it to the team's late founder, as the GC men roll in together far behind.

The result