2026-09-03T13:57:53.677Z
Jakob Omrzel is getting pretty close to the virtual lead now.
Movistar don’t seem to care that much right now – they can be confident that the gap own’t be eight minutes at the end of the day – but they might think they can lure other teams into doing some work.
2026-09-03T13:52:11.342Z
The gap is nearly seven minutes now. Still 30 riders in the front – no one has really been dropped.
Movistar are riding at their own pace on the front of the bunch, not really chasing.
2026-09-03T13:49:59.501Z
Mas is looking comfortable but alert in the red jersey in the peloton.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T13:47:26.666Z
Elsewhere in the cycling world, stage 2 of the Tour of Britain Men just finished.
You can read our report here (no spoilers just in case you’re avoiding the results…)
2026-09-03T13:46:12.415Z
The break aren’t really working that well together anymore. Some riders are committed and taking their turns but others are not quite sharing the load.
2026-09-03T13:42:33.002Z
60km to go
Gap is coming down ever so slightly. The road will head uphill soon, though the Alto del Velefique doesn’t officially start for another 15km.
2026-09-03T13:34:08.918Z
Our leaders have been swept back up by the break.
2026-09-03T13:33:07.981Z
I think Van Aert and Buitrago have just agreed to slow up and wait for the rest of the break to rejoin them.
2026-09-03T13:32:23.565Z
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2026-09-03T13:31:56.730Z
70km to go
Van Aert and Buitrago have 20 seconds on the rest of the break, and 6:40 on the peloton.
2026-09-03T13:27:32.752Z
Van Aert and Buitrago are on their own on the descent again, just pushing on after that KOM sprint.
2026-09-03T13:26:38.383Z
Van Aert has 30 points in the KOM classification now, and Buitrago has 38.
2026-09-03T13:25:42.830Z
KOM: Collado García (cat. 2)
Van Aert and Buitrago go head to head for the points and WVA wins it again.
Van Aert – 5ptsBuitrago – 3ptsBilbao – 1pt
2026-09-03T13:20:05.231Z
Woooops Luke Tuckwell nearly crashed into a soigneur in the feed zone there. Just about avoided disaster.
2026-09-03T13:11:48.665Z
The gap is up to six minutes now. How much elastic are the peloton going to give this break? At what point does it come un-closeable?
With two such long climbs left, a lot can change in the finale, so six minutes definitely isn’t too much to close, but I wonder what Movistar’s strategy is here.
2026-09-03T13:05:56.372Z
90km to go
It’s deceptively calm right now. Still two really big climbs to come after this one.
2026-09-03T13:02:23.934Z
Still 11km left of this climb to go. It hasn’t been too eventful so far.
2026-09-03T12:51:36.903Z
If you’re looking for something to read whilst the race is relatively calm, I spoke with Paul Seixas yesterday about his upcoming races.
Paul Seixas raring to take on Canadian GPs and World Championships with Pogačar possible absence opening up opportunities
French star will return from post-Tour de France break at Grand Prix Québec before big goals of Worlds and Il Lombardia
2026-09-03T12:50:00.171Z
Bahrain are understandably taking a lot of responsibility in the break. They have KOM points and GC positions to gain.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T12:48:29.171Z
That early attempt to split up the break hasn’t really worked, still a big group all together at the base of this long climb.
2026-09-03T12:44:44.641Z
100km to go
Still a lot of action and climbing to come today.
2026-09-03T12:43:56.637Z
Collado García (18.8km at 2.4%)
Buitrago is pushing on in the front of the break, trying to whittle things down a bit.
Riders like him will be hoping they can get rid of Omrzel, because that will give a smaller break a better chance of winning the stage.
Van Aert, Almeida, Lutsenko, Bisiaux and Kron are with him.
2026-09-03T12:40:14.092Z
The gap has just reached five minutes.
2026-09-03T12:35:25.787Z
Sivakov confusion again. It was not him that we could see joining the break… He’s actually given up and waited for the peloton.
2026-09-03T12:33:05.119Z
Images of Onley’s crash, in case you missed it.
Slippery conditions on a roundabout have brought down the leader of the White Jersey, Oscar Onley! 😮The Scottish rider is currently fourth in the GC and this crash is something Onley did not need!#LaVuelta26 | August 22 – September 14 | SBS2 & @SBSOnDemand 📺 pic.twitter.com/TxonvpLBfBSeptember 3, 2026
2026-09-03T12:32:07.870Z
Here’s a look at Wout van Aert in the break.
Who do you think will win today? Break or peloton? Let me know in the comments.
2026-09-03T12:30:07.354Z
KOM: Alto de Cóbdar (cat. 3)
Van Aert wins maximum points again. He really is keen to go after this jersey, but he’s only made up 2 points in his 11-point deficit to Buitrago.
Van Aert – 3ptsBuitrago – 2ptsBilbao – 1pt
2026-09-03T12:27:05.988Z
Correction, Sivakov has made it, so 31 in the lead. Tracker is showing him as behind but we can see he is in the break.
2026-09-03T12:26:06.022Z
Díaz and Hamilton have joined the break. Sivakov hasn’t made it. Should be 30 riders in the lead now.
2026-09-03T12:22:28.751Z
Alto de Cóbdar (4.9km at 4.5%)
There is a chasing group in between the peloton and the break – it’s made up of Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL) and José Manuel Díaz (Burgos Burpellet BH).
They’re about a minute behind the break.
2026-09-03T12:20:19.353Z
Movistar are on the front of the bunch.
2026-09-03T12:13:46.911Z
Pretty impressive to see Tuckwell in this break after crashing today. He crashed last weekend too.
2026-09-03T12:13:22.927Z
The biggest GC threat in the group is Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) who sits at 8:05 down on Enric Mas, so Movistar will have to keep this somewhat controlled.
The gap is approaching three minutes currently.
2026-09-03T12:12:20.462Z
Here’s the names in the break:
L. Tuckwell (RBH)J. Almeida (UEX)I. Oliveira (UEX)K. Vermaerke (UEX)P. Castrillo (MOV)J. Arcas (MOV)W. van Aert (TVL)L. Bisiaux (DCT)E. Dunbar (PQT)J. Haig (NCI)A. Laurance (NCI)P. Bilbao (TBV)S. Buitrago (TBV)J. Omrzel (TBV)L. Kämna (LTK)R. Rochas (GFC)L. De Vylder (APT)H. Houle (APT)R. Debruyne (APT)A. Lutsenko (NSN)M. Vansevenant (SOQ)T. Johannessen (UXM)A. Kron (UXM)A. Leknessund (UXM)F. Pickering (JAY)V. Albanese (EFE)M. Brenner (TUD)H. Mulubrhan (XAT)U. Berrade (EKP)
2026-09-03T12:09:11.793Z
120km to go
Oscar Onley is visiting the medical car.
Check the widget above for a list of names in the break.
2026-09-03T12:08:17.729Z
Some riders in this break don’t seem to want to be in such a big group. A few of them are trying to get away in a smaller break.
2026-09-03T12:07:23.130Z
The peloton are going almost comically slow now, letting the gap go out to a minute.
2026-09-03T12:06:47.079Z
Oscar Onley is back in the peloton, so Ineos can relax briefly now.
2026-09-03T12:06:12.515Z
Seems I spoke prematurely – the peloton is slowing up so I think this break of 27 will be our move of the day.
I’ll list the full names when we have them.
2026-09-03T12:02:17.925Z
Van Aert is in this 27-rider front group. But I think they’re about to be caught and the situation will reset once again…
2026-09-03T12:00:50.152Z
The gap is still small. Teams will have to asses who has made it and who hasn’t before they decide if this big move is going to be allowed to go.
2026-09-03T12:00:08.347Z
Back to the front of the race, our three leaders have just been joined by a large group of chasers – over 20 of them. Big group at the front now.
2026-09-03T11:59:01.495Z
Amazing landscapes in Andalucía.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T11:58:06.131Z
Onley and fellow chasers are a minute down on the peloton because the bunch are going at full pelt now. They’ll be able to get back on but it’s not ideal.
2026-09-03T11:57:23.361Z
The Scot got a nice word of encouragement and a push from his former Picnic teammate Timo Roosen.
2026-09-03T11:56:55.847Z
Oof just saw the replay of the crash. Onley just slid out on the exit of the roundabout, landing on a patch of grass outside a Lidl. Looked heavy by the grass will have softened the blow.
2026-09-03T11:55:46.714Z
No teammates with Onley just yet. He’s just drafting behind the Ineos car.
2026-09-03T11:55:17.013Z
Crash
Oscar Onley looks to have come off heavily round a roundabout, his white jersey is covered in dirt from the road. He’s remounted his bike and he’s chasing back on.
Luke Tuckwell also went down, and a rider from Picnic PostNL.
2026-09-03T11:49:30.395Z
We’ve got just over 20km of rolling road now before the next categorised climb.
Various riders are trying to chase across to our three leaders.
2026-09-03T11:42:31.845Z
The three leaders have a bigger gap that anyone has had today, but I’m not sure three is a big enough break for today. I would say too many teams will be chasing behind for this to be able to stick.
2026-09-03T11:41:51.528Z
Abandon
Young Aussie Hamish McKenzie (Jayco AlUla) has quit after crashing yesterday.
2026-09-03T11:41:26.710Z
A new move has a pretty decent gap.
Alexey Lutsenko (NSN), Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
2026-09-03T11:39:38.813Z
Van Aert isn’t having a bad Vuelta, but his own team admitted that he does need to win for himself at some point. Today is probably too hard, but it’s still good to see him in the mix.
Return to lead-out duties for Wout van Aert brings Visma more success at Vuelta a España, but he also needs wins himself says DS
‘Hopefully he will win one stage, but on the other hand, he is an excellent teammate, and he wants to help Matthew Brennan win more stages’ says Frans Maassen
2026-09-03T11:38:30.479Z
20km done, Van Aert and Buitrago are reeled in. The breakaway battle starts anew.
2026-09-03T11:34:22.215Z
Van Aert and Buitrago have just chipped off the front of the peloton with that KOM effort.
2026-09-03T11:34:02.651Z
KOM: Alto del Cabecico (cat. 3)
Wout van Aert wins maximum points with a little sprint over the top.
Van Aert – 3ptsBuitrago – 2ptsSivakov – 1pt
2026-09-03T11:32:45.815Z
Up front, Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5) is leading the way in trying to get into the break, but nothing is sticking yet.
2026-09-03T11:32:11.583Z
Gregor Muhlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) stopped and got off his bike, and also started taking his shoe off. Not sure if he’s needing a bike change or a shoe change…
2026-09-03T11:31:31.918Z
Plenty of riders have been in the action today.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T11:29:30.519Z
Vine is struggling at the back, whilst his teammate Oliveira is off the front with a couple of riders. Still not an established break as we approach the top of the climb.
2026-09-03T11:26:33.786Z
Jay Vine gave a kind of avoidant interview to Eurosport. Saying he’s not feeling good, but he doesn’t know why. He didn’t want to say much.
2026-09-03T11:23:09.085Z
Wout van Aert is getting involved now. He’s after green jersey points mainly, but he’s also close enough to the lead of the mountains jersey that that could be of interest to him too…
He’s not going to win that jersey but it would be nice to wear it.
2026-09-03T11:21:22.524Z
Alto del Cabecico (8.4km at 3.3%)
Start of the climb. It’s long-ish but a pretty gentle gradient. It’s steeper near the top.
2026-09-03T11:18:26.980Z
No break yet, but we’re only 6km in.
2026-09-03T11:17:14.012Z
Crash
Small crash in the bunch, Fredrik Wahndal (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) went down but was back up and riding quickly. Tense in the peloton though.
2026-09-03T11:13:42.846Z
EF Education-EasyPost are throwing plenty of riders into the mix here. Them, Tudor, Uno-X all clearly want to be in the break.
2026-09-03T11:11:06.528Z
Fuelled by his bananas, Ethan Hayter is the first rider to try to attack as the break formation begins.
2026-09-03T11:10:22.610Z
Official start
Off they go!
166.6km and over 60km of uphill to come.
2026-09-03T11:06:26.576Z
3 riders DNS on stage 12
A couple of other riders didn’t start today, alongside Tulett:
Lindsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech)David González (Pinarello Q36.5)
We’re tracking all the abandons throughout the race if you want to know who else has dropped out so far.
2026-09-03T11:03:19.527Z
Neutral roll-out
The peloton have just rolled away from the start line for a short neutral section.
2026-09-03T10:57:58.150Z
Primož Roglič just gave the most Primož Roglič interview to the host broadcasters.
They asked him if he would prefer if today was a breakaway.
Uhhh, yeah… I don’t care, eh? It will be hard anyway.
2026-09-03T10:49:23.777Z
A hot day in Spain
It’s about 32° C at the start today, so riders are trying to keep cool. We’ve really had every type of weather in this Vuelta. Remember the hail storm?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T10:47:04.111Z
Oh, Hayter’s prize is for the most combative rider on stage 11.
How did I not know until today that the prize for that is bananas?!
2026-09-03T10:46:19.574Z
Looks like Ethan Hayter won a trophy and a prize of bananas at the start this morning. I wish I could tell you what that was for…
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-09-03T10:44:11.209Z
Roll-out at 13:00 CEST
The riders will start in just over 15 minutes, with a short neutral and the official start slated for 13:07 local time.
They’ll be climbing almost straight away, with the official start of the Alto del Cabecico coming 8km into the stage.
2026-09-03T10:41:48.923Z
It’s back to the GC action after what was a fairly tame sprint day yesterday. If you missed out on any of that stage, here’s the report and results.
Vuelta a España: Matthew Brennan nets hat-trick with victory on stage 11 using lead-out by Wout van Aert
Bryan Coquard and Jordi Meeus earn podium spots in Lorca
2026-09-03T10:36:48.387Z
Speaking of crashes, here’s the latest update on Pogačar after he crashed out of the race last Saturday.
Tadej Pogačar out of hospital after Vuelta a España crash and injuries but questions remain regarding World Championships
Slovenian set to recover at home from injuries, date on return yet to be announced
2026-09-03T10:33:58.417Z
One abandon to report already this morning: Ben Tulett won’t be starting.
He crashed a few days ago so will head home. The British climber hasn’t really had the Vuelta he might have hoped for, but Visma-Lease a Bike still have former winner Sepp Kuss in the GC conversation.
🇪🇸 #LaVuelta26 Unfortunately, Ben Tulett will not start today’s stage of La Vuelta due to lingering issues from his crash a few days ago. pic.twitter.com/CUU0Eh2U9KSeptember 3, 2026
Basically, LOTS of climbing. 4,475m of elevation gain and 62.2km of categorised climbing, to be precise.
(Image credit: Unipublic)
2026-09-03T10:04:00.454Z
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España!
Matilda Price
Assistant Features Editor
I’m Matilda and I’ll be guiding you through the stage today, which looks to be a tough one and potentially exciting for the GC.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the comments and chatting with you so if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to drop them below.