Date: Thursday 29 August, 2024
Distance: 137.5km
Start location: Ourense
Finish location: Manzaneda
Start time: 14:10 CET
Finish time (approx): 17:22 CET
There is much more to Grand Tour racing than just what we see happening on the road. Races only last a handful of hours each day, and in between one stage to the next, the riders must do all they can to rest, recover, and stay as fit and healthy as possible. Evening massages are a key part of this process, not just as a form of physical therapy but as a chance to reflect on how the day’s race went and discuss things with teammates and staff.
The thermal baths of Oursense, where stage twelve of the Vuelta a España will set out from, have historically served a similar purpose. Upon discovering hot springs here on the banks of the Miño River, the Romans founded the settlement (then known as Auriense) and built bathhouses to use them. For soldiers, they were frequented to heal and recuperate from their excursions on the battlefield, as well as socialise and relax with one another. The springs continue to be used today and remain Ourense’s main tourist attraction and are among the most renowned thermal sites in all of Europe.
The riders must be well recovered by the time they depart from Ourense, as stage twelve is significantly harder than a cursory glance at the parcours might suggest. Officially, there is only one climb all day, leading to the organisers labelling the stage as merely ‘hilly’, but in reality, the road undulates all day. While the riders start at 227m above sea level, by the time they reach the foot of the day’s sole climb, Estación de Montaña Manzaneda, they’ll already have risen to 765m.
This climb to the finish is not the steepest, but it’s long enough to cause damage. The first half is especially modest, averaging a little more than 4%, but things get harder for the final 7km to the top when it increases to about 6%, including one ramp at 12%. It’s only featured once at the Vuelta in 2011 when 36-year-old David Moncoutié claimed what would turn out to be the last professional win of his illustrious career en route to claiming a historic fourth consecutive King of the Mountains title.
Among the GC favourites that day, the gradients were still hard enough for Joaquim Rodríguez to gain a gap and take seven seconds from his rivals, while a little-known Chris Froome — at this point still considered a domestique to Bradley Wiggins — was dropped and lost the red jersey he’d surprisingly gained the day before in a time trial. At the time, it seemed as though he’d revert back to helping Wiggins, but he ultimately proved to be the stronger of the two in the later, more difficult mountains (and would several years later be retrospectively awarded overall victory after Juan José Cobo was stripped of the title for doping). With this in mind, and given how this stage features about as early into the race as that one, maybe we shouldn't draw too many definitive conclusions based on what happens today.
Stage profile sourced via Vuelta website
Contenders
There are multiple possibilities when it comes to the way in which stage 12 of La Vuelta will play out. As has been seen in the previous two stages, there’s every chance that a big breakaway could go to the finish line and contest the victory. On the other hand, tricky mountains like this could set the perfect playground for the general classification riders to have a big battle and take the stage honours for themselves.
Of the GC men, Primož Roglič starts as one of the standout favourites for victory on this stage. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider started this Vuelta as the outstanding pre-race favourite but he has time to make up still on current race leader Ben O’Connor. It’s likely we’ll see a trademark Roglič attack on some of the toughest gradients of the later climbs. Enric Mas of Movistar is another GC rider who has been looking steadily stronger as this race goes on, so he is another one to watch. The same can be said for EF Education-EasyPost’s Richard Carapaz and Soudal–Quick-Step’s Mikel Landa.
UAE Team Emirates are a GC squad with multiple options for this stage. Adam Yates has been riding strongly for the Emirati team, but they also have a chance with the likes of Jay Vine and Brandon McNulty who could get in the main breakaway of the day.
Pure climbers such as Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) also will relish the huge number of elevation metres in today’s stage, so we could expect them to contest the win from the breakaway if the GC riders allow it. Attila Valter of Visma-Lease a Bike is another rider to watch, as are the likes of Jayco-Alula’s Eddie Dunbar and Filippo Zana who will be flying high after the team’s win on stage 11.
Stage 12 winners prediction
We think that Primož Roglič will get the stage victory today and take back more time on the general classification riders.
