Vuelta a España 2026: Jakob Omrzel solos to a maiden Grand Tour win on Calar Alto, Enric Mas extends his red jersey lead

A thirty-man breakaway, with Van Aert right in the mix

Around forty kilometres after the start in Vera, a thirty-rider breakaway went clear, including — alongside eventual stage winner Jakob Omrzel — Urko Berrade, Santiago Buitrago, Alexey Lutsenko, Mauri Vansevenant and, notably, green jersey holder Wout van Aert. The Belgian collected points at both the intermediate sprint and the mountain points on the Alto de Velefique, much to the annoyance of mountains classification leader Santiago Buitrago, who spent the whole day sparring with him over those same points.

The peloton, driven on by the GC contenders' teams, never let the escapees get much more than a few minutes clear, and by the foot of the Alto de Velefique the gap had already shrunk considerably. On the 17-kilometre final climb to Calar Alto the breakaway then splintered, until only a select group remained around Omrzel, Berrade, Buitrago, Lutsenko and Vansevenant.

Omrzel solos to his first Grand Tour stage win

With just over 12 kilometres to go, 20-year-old Slovenian Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) accelerated away from that group. Nobody could go with him, and he rode the rest of the climb alone to the line, crossing it in 4:29:53 for his first-ever Grand Tour stage win — only the second victory of his professional career. At 20 years, 5 months and 13 days old, Omrzel is the youngest Slovenian rider ever to win a Grand Tour stage, breaking the record previously held by Tadej Pogačar.

Behind him, Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma) salvaged something for the rest of the breakaway with second place, 1 minute 56 seconds back, ahead of Omrzel's teammate Santiago Buitrago (2 minutes 13 seconds), Alexey Lutsenko (2 minutes 49 seconds) and Mauri Vansevenant (2 minutes 53 seconds).

Mas attacks with twelve kilometres to go, Roglič and Gall dropped

While Omrzel was on his way to victory, the group of GC favourites blew apart too. Enric Mas, who has worn the red jersey since stage 9, launched his own attack around 12 kilometres from the finish. Neither Roglič, Gall nor Carapaz could follow, and the race leader crossed the line sixth, 2 minutes 56 seconds behind Omrzel — 27 seconds ahead of the Gall-Roglič-Carapaz trio, who came home together. It's already the second time this Vuelta that Mas has taken time out of his rivals on a summit finish.

The stage 12 result

1. Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious), 4:29:53; 2. Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), at 1 minute 56 seconds; 3. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), at 2 minutes 13 seconds; 4. Alexey Lutsenko, at 2 minutes 49 seconds; 5. Mauri Vansevenant, at 2 minutes 53 seconds; 6. Enric Mas (Movistar), at 2 minutes 56 seconds. Roglič, Gall and Carapaz came home together, 27 seconds behind Mas, or 3 minutes 23 seconds behind Omrzel.

The general classification after twelve stages

Enric Mas remains the leader, now 1:45 clear of Primož Roglič and 2:06 clear of Felix Gall — 27 seconds more for both than before today's start. Richard Carapaz is fourth at 3:53, ahead of Oscar Onley (+4:29), Jakob Omržel — suddenly sixth overall thanks to his stage win — at 4:59, Mattias Skjelmose (+7:42), Sepp Kuss (+7:58), Gregor Mühlberger (+8:27) and Harold Tejada (+8:33).

The jerseys bring little change: Wout van Aert extends his green jersey lead further, now 77 points clear of teammate Matthew Brennan, and Santiago Buitrago keeps the mountains jersey after his day-long duel with Van Aert. The young rider classification is getting tense, though: Oscar Onley remains the leader, but sees his margin over Omržel — who leapt forward with his stage win — shrink to just 30 seconds.

Looking ahead: stage 13 to Loja, and more Vuelta reading

Friday 4 September brings stage 13, from Almuñécar to Loja, with the Puerto de los Guájares arriving early as a first hurdle before a largely flat run-in. Check the route on our stage 13 page, or read our week 2 preview for everything on the rest of this mountain week, topped off by the Sierra de la Pandera.

Want to catch up on the rest of this Vuelta? Read our stage 11 report from Lorca, the stage 9 report from the Alto de Aitana or the complete guide to the 2026 Vuelta a España.