Vuelta a España stage 12: Hugh Carthy wins atop the Angliru, Richard Carapaz takes red jersey

Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) took victory atop the fearsome Alto de l’Angliru at the Vuelta a España on Sunday.

The British rider ground his way clear in the final kilometer of the ultra-steep Asturian ascent, leading home Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) and Enric Mas (Movistar), who took second and third respectively.

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) took fourth on the stage, with Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) next to the line, 10 seconds back. With the pair starting the day tied on time, the red leader’s jersey passes from Roglič back to the Ecuadorian, who lead the classification for four days earlier this week.

Carthy now sits firmly in GC contention after his victory on the Angliru, a climb that pitches up to over 20 percent for much of the final five kilometers. The stage win is arguably his biggest result to date.

“It’s a dream come true to win,” he said. “To win any professional race is a dream come true, but to win in a grand tour, on a mythical climb – it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s hard to put into words.”

Carthy’s victory elevates him to third on GC, 32 seconds back on Carapaz. The 26-year-old moves up from fourth overall, pushing Dan Martin down one slot, 3 seconds behind him.

Although Carapaz has the race lead heading into Monday’s rest day, Roglič’s strength against the clock means the Vuelta is still finely-balanced ahead of Tuesday’s 34km time trial.

“For the public, it’s everything they want – a close race going into the time trial, everything’s to play for,” Carthy said.

Although Mas had lit up the moves on the steepest slopes of the Angliru, the Spaniard’s aggressive performance went relatively unrewarded as he remains fifth overall at 1:50.

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Like Saturday’s stage, it took some time for the break to settle. Eventually, 20 riders went clear in the first hour of the short 109km stage through the Asturias, with Ineos Grenadiers, EF Pro Cycling, and Movistar all getting a rider in the break, with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and mountains jersey holder Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) also in the group.

The escapees soon gained three minutes as Jumbo-Visma controlled behind.

However, when Movistar began pulling on the cat 1 Alto de la Mozqueta midway through the race, the gap began to tumble, leaving them with under one minute heading into the short, steep penultimate climb of the Cordal.

The damp, sketchy descent off the Mozqueta saw a handful of riders hit the deck, including key Ineos Grenadiers domestique, Andrey Amador. The Costa Rican rode on but didn’t get back on the GC group as Movistar continued cranking the place, leaving Carapaz down one important helper.

The escape group began to break down on the Cordal climb, with Martin, Sanchez, Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) and Anthony Roux (Groupama FDJ) splintering off the front. With 1km of the climb remaining, Chris Froome (Ineos Grenadiers) upped the pace in the GC pack with Carapaz on his wheel. The acceleration didn’t cause problems for the GC contenders as Robert Gesink neutralized the threat for Jumbo-Visma, but saw the main bunch thin down to around 50 riders.

Gesink lead the peloton to the Angliru, with Roglič and four other Jumbo-Visma riders nestled just behind him. Carapaz followed next with just Froome for support.

The last breakaway riders were finally scooped up with around 10km to go as Gesink continued to drive the group. Heading into the final six kilometers as the slope started looking near-vertical, Roglič and two teammates were still at the front.

The Dutch squad’s relentless pace via Jonas Vingegaard splintered the lead group to around 15 riders with Carapaz now isolated, looking to be struggling toward the back of the pack.

Mas broke the deadlock with 3.5km to go, just ahead of the Angliru’s steepest pitches. The Spaniard ground his way off the front as Kuss lead the chase, with Dan Martin wobbling toward the back of the group

Carthy went next on 3km to go, slowly winching his way toward Mas at the front of the race, with Vlasov next down the road. The trio came together around one kilometer later with the rest of the group just 20 meters – though several seconds – behind.

Roglič began losing the wheels in the final 1500 meters, and though Kuss stuck with him in support, there was little the Coloradan could do to help on such a steep ascent.

Carthy made his move with 1200 meters to go, grinding out of the saddle, rapidly putting 5 seconds into Mas and Vlasov. The gangly climber continued to pull clear, and with 300 meters to go, his victory was assured.

Carapaz managed to gain contact with the two chasers, though narrowly missed the podium after the young Russian and Spanish riders narrowly beat him to the line, 16 seconds behind Carthy.