Twenty-year-old Slovenian Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) crowned his first season in the WorldTour with an impressive solo victory in the mountains of stage 12 in the Vuelta a España.
He attacked with more than 11 kilometres of the final climb remaining and held off the remains of the day's breakaway all the way to the finish to win by nearly two minutes. It was his first pro-level victory.
As expected, the GC battle ignited behind him on the slopes to Calar Alto, with Enric Mas (Movistar) putting time into his rivals for the overall with an unanswerable attack. The day's big loser was Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos), who ceded more than two minutes to Mas and dropped to fifth overall.
Omrzel, on the other hand, jumped from 10th to sixth overall thanks to his performance.
Asked after the stage whether he had surprised himself, Omrzel said, "I'm not surprised, because I know how much work I've put in. I knew this day would come sooner or later, but for sure I was not expecting it 100 per cent in the first Grand Tour."
Looking amazingly fresh as he performed a cool-down on the trainer, he added: "I still can't believe what I did, but I felt super good, I'm still feeling OK, I'm not tired. I don't know, I'm just enjoying it at the moment.
He said his Bahrain Victorious team – which had had a doubly good day with fellow breakaway Santiago Buitrago taking the mountains jersey – understood each other really well, and were locked in an imaginary Playstation game.
"The whole team is just perfect," he said. "We said that we're playing Playstation and that's what we're doing at the moment, what we want. We go in the breakaway with Pello [Bilbao], Santi [Buitrago] and other guys, it's just amazing and I'm really proud."
He was also informed that he is the youngest ever Slovenian to win a Grand Tour stage – younger even than a certain other in 2020, who in different circumstances might have been expected to win here today.
"It's just a statistic," smiled Omrzel, "but it's a nice statistic."
After a sprint day yesterday, won by Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), it was the turn once more of the GC riders to step forward today, with a 166.6km stage from Vera to Calar Alto in southern Spain that was brimming with ascents. It's five categorised climbs, including two cat-ones, totalled 4,475 metres of climbing, and the summit finish was situated at a lofty 2,150m altitude.
A maxi-sized breakaway provided much of the day's narrative, with Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) sparking proceedings and ultimately being joined by 29 others, including Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Bilboa and Buitrago and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).
The group waxed and waned until it was ultimately down to a small handful on the final climb, from which Omrzel struck out.
Just a few minutes later, Mas attacked the favourites, who had already become a selection of those on their day – with Onley conspicuous by his absence. The Spaniard rapidly opened a gap on Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) behind, and despite them having three teammates between them, there was little they could do in the face of Mas's relentless charge to the line, and though the gap had closed a little at the finish, Mas still succeeded in putting 27 seconds into Gall, Roglič and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
Vuelta a España, stage 12: Vera > Calar Alto, 166.6km
1. Jakob Omrzel (Slo) Bahrain Victorious, in 4:29:53
2. Urko Berrade (Spa) Kern Pharma, +1:56
3. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, +2:13
4. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) NSN Cycling, +2:49
5. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +2:53
6. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar, +2:56
7. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:23
8. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
9. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, all same time
10. Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:50
General Classification after stage 12
1. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team, in 4:31:51
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:45
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +2:06
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +3:53
5. Oscar Onley (GBr) Netcompany-Ineos, +4:29
6. Jakob Omrzel (Slo) Bahrain-Victorious, +4:59
7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +7:42
8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +7:58
9. Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +8:27
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +8:33
