Four days after the epic battle of Sierra Nevada in the 2024 Vuelta a España and over 1,000 kilometres further north in the Iberian peninsula, the Spanish Grand Tour heads back into the mountains on Thursday, in the first of four stages that could mark yet another series of turning points in this year’s topsy-turvy race.
Race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) has defined Friday and Sunday of the second week as the two most important, and on paper at least he’s probably right. In terms of terrain, Thursday’s stage 12 is by far the most straightforward, being just 137km long and containing just one, relatively uncomplicated classified ascent, the category 1 Manzaneda summit finish climb.
