La Vuelta 2025 Stage 12 recap - Juan Ayuso doubles up from breakaway as Bruno Armirail rises to sixth

Spain’s Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) pipped compatriot Javier Romo (Movistar) for a second win in La Vuelta after proving the strongest of a whopping 52-man breakaway in Stage 12.

Ayuso swept past Romo in a two-up sprint in Los Corrales de Buelna to secure his team’s fifth stage win of the race as Frenchman Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) rose to sixth in the general classification and Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) extended his lead in the green jersey standings.

On the eve of Friday’s decisive test on the fearsome Alto de L’Angliru, the 145km stage through the lush Cantabria region of northern Spain was something of a GC stalemate as red jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) kept his powder dry along with his big rivals.

Vingegaard finished safely in the main peloton over six minutes down on Ayuso to retain his 50-second lead over Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with Briton Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) a further six seconds back in third place.

The impressive Pedersen battled into the breakaway for a second day running to take maximum points in the intermediate sprint in Barros, with 35km of the stage remaining.

Despite being dropped on the decisive climb of the Collada de Brenes, Pedersen fought back into a chase group and added yet more green jersey points to his tally with a solid fifth place at the finish.

The Frenchman did indeed rise into the top 10 today at the expense of Matthew Riccitello, who drops to 11th. Here’s the new-look top 10 ahead of tomorrow’s queen stage to the Angliru, where everything will be thrown into disarray.

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)
2. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +0:50
3. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +0:56
4. Torstein Traeen (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:06
5. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2:17
6. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +2:22
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

"After such a hard day you don’t know and you have to play your cards right. I was a bit nervous in the final kilometres and the car told me to play games and not co-operate fully. I knew this road well from the junior races and I timed my sprint perfectly. Soler did a great job controlling the pace in a breakaway that was almost as big as a peloton."

The peloton comes home over six minutes down so there will be no changes at the top, although Frenchman Bruno Armirail, who finished in the chase group at 17 seconds, will move up into the top 10, or thereabouts, with his ride today. Let’s await confirmation of that.

It’s a Spanish one-two after the day’s big break goes the distance in Cantabria.

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

Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) takes third place ahead of Victor Campenaerts, while Mads Pedersen leads the chasers home to add more green jersey points to his leading tally.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have their fifth win after Ayuso powers past Javier Romo, leaving the Movistar man to bang his handlebars in frustration as his compatriot takes a second win on this Vuelta.

Surely it’s a two-way battle between the two Spaniards now. Further back, Campenaerts has zipped clear of the chase group – but it will be too late for the Belgian.

We haven’t seen Brieuc Rolland at all but we’re told he’s still 15 seconds down. The Frenchman clearly hasn’t got a camera on him and he could yet force himself into the reckoning. The chase group, meanwhile, is only 35 seconds back. This could be very interesting.

Ayuso and Romo start to bicker. It looks like the UAE rider is saying he doesn’t need to pull because his team have already won four times and he already has a win. This forces Romo through. They should still hold on, but they shouldn’t talk themselves out of contesting the victory here.

It’s hard to pick between the two Spaniards out ahead. Ayuso has a greater pedigree and is already a stage winner on this race, but he’s a climber by trade and he’ll have to beat Romo in a sprint if he wants to double up. And if they play around then they’ll have the Frenchman Rolland to contend with.

The chase group, meanwhile, is starting to tear shreds off each other. They’re still 50 seconds back.

The addition of Pedersen and Campenaerts can’t bring about any meaningful change, with the chase group still one minute behind Ayuso and Romo. I thought that Rolland was in that group, but the Frenchman is still up the road and only 15 seconds behind the leaders apparently…

Wow – the Danish powerhouse just won’t give up. The green jersey joins the chasers along with Armirail, Buitrago, Howson and Campenaerts. So, there’s a fair few engines here. But the gap is one minute now and so there’s everything to do.

Now they’ve completed the descent and are onto the flatter run in towards the finish, the chasers need to stick together – rather than ride individually – if they want to stand a chance of contesting the win.

They are: Rolland, Soler, Castrillo, Landa, Beloki, Pickering, Balderstone and Dunbar.

Ayuso and Romo now have 50 seconds on the chasers so they’re looking good to contest the win today. Meanwhile, back in the pack it’s Matteo Jorgenson who has come to the front to lead his Visma team-mate Jonas Vingegaard down the descent.

With the Angliru on the menu tomorrow, it’s no surprise that we haven’t seen any big moves from the GC riders on this climb. They’re still in the pack over five minutes back with Visma setting the tempo for Jonas Vingegaard.

Javier Romo bags the KOM points on the summit of the Collada de Brenes with compatriot Juan Ayuso right in his wheel. It’s then Landa who leads the chasers over around 35 seconds down. There are a fair few Palestine flags being flown at the top, but no visible protests for now.

Cue a key descent in the outcome of this stage. Will the Spanish duo hold on or can the chase group latch on?

Edit: It was actually Rolland who came through to take third over the summit, but there's no change in the KOM standings with Jay Vine still leading the way in polka dots.

An acceleration from the Basque veteran forces a response from Beloki as they reel in Pickering. The others then bridge over in pursuit.

The duo has five seconds on Rolland and another five on Pickering, with a six-man move another 25 seconds back. It includes Soler, Castrillo, Landa, Beloki, Balderstone and Dunbar.

Ayuso gesticulates and forces his compatriot Romo to come through for a pull. Behind, Rolland digs deep in pursuit – and the Frenchman has them in his sights. Further down the road, there’s a chase group forming around Eddie Dunbar. While in between we have Shaw and Pickering. It’s all happening.