Vingegaard’s leads his main GC rival, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates–XRG), by 50 seconds, with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) sitting in third, at 56 seconds. The race is nicely poised as the riders take on the two most difficult stages in the race on Friday and Saturday, with the fearsome Angliru (12.4km @ 8.8%, with  gradients of up to 23.5%!), arguably the most difficult ascent in the sport, waiting at the end of Friday’s stage 13.

Ayuso! Ayuso! Ayuso!

In addition to branding his team a dictatorship, Ayuso also said that he would devote the rest of the race to helping team leader, João Almeida, win the GC. And he did, leading the peloton for five minutes on Wednesday’s stage 11 before dropping back at the foot of the final climb. The next day, on Thursday’s stage 12, he burst out of the peloton on the first of the stage’s two categorized climbs, 109km from the finish, joined a massive 50+ rider breakaway, broke away from what remained of it and then beat Javier Romo (Movistar) to the finish line to prove what everyone already knew, that he is a terrific cyclist and will always put his own interests before those of the team.

Though, apparently, if he is to be believed, he carried out his latest solo yo (only me) with the team’s blessings. Not only did he get valuable help from his indefatigable teammate Marc Soler, but he was advised in the finale by a sports director in his team car, who told him to let Romo do most of the work in the run to the line. Then he sat in back of the Movistar rider in the final kilometer and easily beat him to the line.

“At 5 kilometers to the finish, I sat up a bit and Javi was getting nervous because he was looking at his first stage win in the Vuelta a España,” said Ayuso, and confirmed that the advice from the team car was to hold back from pulling. “I was told from the car to play like this. This is not something that I really enjoy – to play a bit and not cooperate fully, but sometimes you have to play smart, and that’s what I did in the finale.”

Romo was left banging his handlebars in frustration. I was annoyed,” he told Spanish media at the finish. “Juan wasn’t just the strongest, he was the most intelligent. He almost didn’t want to work in the end.”

Asked if he felt vindicated by his victory, Ayuso said, “I don’t know. I had to face unpleasant things in these last few days and talking on the bike with my legs is always the best answer. It wasn’t a message, but to be able to do it was important.”

It’s clear that one of UAE’s goals this year – and perhaps its primary goal in the Vuelta – is to break the record for team victories in a calendar year. That record, set by HTC-Colombia in 2009, stands at 85 wins. UAE’s count after this latest win is now 78 victories. I have to wonder what the team would do in the Vuelta if the choice came down to breaking the record or having Almeida win the race without winning a single stage.

Protests disrupt stage 11

The conflict in Gaza has been a visible presence in the Vuelta from the first stage, with Palestinian flags waved on the roadsides and placards condemning Israel held high on virtually every stage. But the protests reached a climax on Wednesday’s stage 11, when organizers were forced to annul the final 3km of the stage and neutralize the finish by not declaring a winner because hundreds of protestors were roaming the road near the finish line.

The situation grew explosive after Escape Collective published WhatsApp messages in which several riders called on Israel–Premier Tech to drop out of the race, a demand apparently seconded by the race’s technical director, Kiko García. The team refused, declaring in a statement, “Israel–Premier Tech is a professional cycling team. As such, the team remains committed to racing on at the Vuelta a España. Any other course of action sets a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling not only for Israel–Premier Tech, but for all teams.” Fortunately for all concerned, stage 12 was raced without any problems.

And speaking of racing, though the stage was truncated and no official winner was declared, there was still time to gain on rivals. And that is exactly what Vingegaard and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) did, with the Brit bursting out of the peloton on the killer final climb of the stage, the Alto de Pike (2.1km @ 8.8km, with ramps up to 16%). Only Vingegaard could follow him, and the two rode the descent together, with the Dane winning the sprint to the new finish line. Both riders gained time on the rest of the GC, with Vingegaard’s lead over Almeida ballooning to 50 seconds and Pidcock climbing onto the podium, at 56 seconds.

Vinegaard back in Red

A race that had not been frantic turned super fast on Tuesday’s stage 10, with riders desperate to join a breakaway. It took 70km before a 30-rider breakaway managed to form, as the average for the first 80km of the 175.3km course from Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva to El Ferial Larra Belagua was a stunning 50kph. That large group eventually splintered. The fight for the stage victory was played out on the slopes of the final climb, to the Puerto de Belagua (9.4km @ 6.2%), where Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) distanced Movistar’s Pablo Castrillo and won his second stage of this Vuelta and his team’s fourth. Romo finished third.

More significantly, the surprise race leader Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious), who had taken the red jersey after stage 6, faltered halfway up that final climb and finished 23rd, 2:08 behind the winner and 1:03 behind Vingegaard, which put the jersey back on the Dane, who said he was determined to wear it for the rest of the race.

“I’m always happy to be in the leader’s jersey; I won’t complain at all,” he said after the stage. “It’s one of the most beautiful in cycling, and I want to keep it now all the way to Madrid.”

Vingegaard went on to say that the fact that Ayuso was no longer a GC threat made his task a little easier, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other riders to worry about. “Just having to watch Almeida is good,” he said. “For sure, it makes it easier only having to follow one guy. But Pidcock doesn’t surprise me, either. He’s a super good rider, and the way he’s been racing here shows just how good he is. I think he is one of the big rivals for the GC.”

Results of Stage 12 of the 2025 Vuelta Ciclista a España

1. Juan Ayuso, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 3:16:21
2. Javier Romo, Movistar “
3. Brieuc Rolland, Groupama-FDJ                                  + 0:13
4. Victor Campanaerts,  Visma–Lease a Bike                 + 0:17
5. Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek                                               “
6. Nico Denz, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe                        “
7. Damian Howson, Q36.5                                              + 0:18
8. Santiago Buitrago, Bahrain Victorious                            “
9. Markel Beloki, EF Education–EasyPost                          “
10. Pablo Castrillo, Movistar “

General Classification after Stage 12 of the Vuelta Ciclista a España

1. Jonas Vingegaard, Visma–Lease a Bike  44:36:45
2. João Almeida, UAE Team Emirates–XRG                   + 0:50
3. Tom Pidcock, Q36.5                                                      + 0:56
4. Torstein Træen, Bahrain-Victorious                              + 1:06
5. Felix Gall, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale                    + 2:17
6. Bruno Amirail, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale             + 2:23
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