Date: Thursday 4 September
Distance: 145km
Start location: Laredo
Finish location: Los Corrales de Buelna
Start time: 14:00 CEST
Finish time: 17:22 CEST
By contrast with most of the rest of the nation, the Cantabrian Coast is characterised by its more temperate climate and less oppressive heat. It’s known as Green Spain for its
comparatively luscious vegetation and oceanic climate, which is pleasantly cooled by the
winds from the Atlantic, and is home to many popular beaches.
One such beach is the La Salvé, a popular hotspot for both surfers that is, for much of the summer, the main tourist attraction of Laredo, where stage 12 of the Vuelta a España sets off from today. Just last Friday, Laredo witnessed another peloton-of-sorts visit and parade in its streets — the so-called ‘Battle of the Flowers’. Held annually on the last Friday of August, this festival sees the streets taken over by a procession of floats decorated in an abundance of colourful flowers. The peloton passing through today might seem quaint by comparison.
While the Cantabrian coast itself might be flat, the terrain is hillier and even mountainous
further to the south, where the riders head to today upon leaving Laredo. They will encounter the first climb 33km into the stage when they begin the Puerto de Alisas, a category two effort that goes on for 8.6km, albeit at a manageable gradient averaging 5.8%. After that the terrain does flatten more as they ride through valley roads, with only the occasional undulation in the road, before eventually arriving at the key moment of the stage: Collada de Brenes.
This mountain certainly appears hard enough to break up the race, as though only 7km long, its 7.9% average gradient earns it the category one label. At the 2022 Vuelta it proved too much for the red jersey of Rudy Molard, who was dropped out of the peloton nearing the top, despite it being the penultimate climb of that stage. But is it too far from the finish to draw the GC contenders into a committed fight today? It’s crested 22km from the finish, so anyone who does feel like an attack will have to fancy themselves on the fast, 11km descent that follows it, and also be wary of the way the road levels out for the final 11km after that. While that may encourage some to be bold, others won’t feel it’s worth the risk and the stress, especially with the monstrous mountain stages to come. There might be more risks taken in the day’s break, in the likely event that they survive to the finish to contest the win, as their goal is more short-term geared only towards winning the stage today rather than the slow burn of the GC race.
Contenders
The bonus seconds and the category one might mean that the stage is controlled for the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Procycling Team), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma).
However, it is more likely that the breakaway will win the stage. Look out for the likes of Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), who was impressive on stage 10. The Frenchman could be allowed to go in the break again on stage 12. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo (Movistar Team), who have been active in the race so far and will be eyeing this stage as one they could win, especially with the following stages in Asturias, featuring the Angliru and the Farrapona, which will likely be fought out amoungst the overall contenders.
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Jay Vine and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) have both won stages at the race and could win on this sort of terrain. The duo have proved themselves to be two of the strongest climbers in the race so far.
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Other riders who may look to get into the day's break include Kevin Vermaerke
Team Picnic PostNL), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), and Chris Harper (Team Jayco Alula).
Prediction
We think Kevin Vermaerke will win the stage from the breakaway.
