Thursday saw Pablo Castrillo claim victory in the Vuelta a Espana’s Stage 12, successfully navigating the mountainous region of north-west Spain. In an impressive move, the 23-year-old Spaniard gained a significant advantage in the last 10km of the race and managed to build an impressive thirty-second gap with a trailing pack of four riders with 4km to go.
Throughout the challenging climb, Castrillo continued to increase his lead, knowing he was on the verge of winning his first Grand Tour stage, he couldn’t help but flash a triumphant smile in the last hundred meters. “The others were formidable opponents and, although I was anxious about the final part, I decided to seize the initiative on the flat which led me to victory,” Castrillo revealed.
Max Poole of Britain impressively overtook the chasers to earn himself the second spot, and Marc Soler sealed the day for Spain by taking third on the podium. In the overall standings, Australian Ben O’Connor managed to keep his lead, securing 14th in the stage and keeping a three minute and 16-second gap from Slovenian Primoz Roglic.
“It was a tough start, but we managed to control the race and pace ourselves in the final climb,” O’Connor acknowledged. Eddie Dunbar of Ireland, who had clinched the 11th stage on Wednesday, finished 26th in Stage 12 but held on to his 18th position in the general classification. Darren Rafferty came in at 106th on the stage, putting him at 86th overall.