Vuelta a Espana stage 12 Live - Evenepoel overcomes crash to defend race lead on Penas Blancas mountain finish

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QuickStep rider stays calm despite road rash

The profile of stage 12 of the 2022 Vuelta a Espana

(Image credit: ASO)

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 12th stage of the Vuelta a España.

The riders have just rolled out of Salobreña and face a rolling 192km in the saddle with the 19km climb up to the finish.

The race director has waved the flag and the stage is officially underway. 

Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) is the first to attack. 

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), Yevgeniy Fedorov (Astana Qazaqstan), Mark Padun (EF Education-Easy Post) and Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) go in a new attack but they are quickly closed down.

Potential stage winners need to be excellent climbers and out of the GC battle but it would be dangerous to let those four get back into the battle for overall victory.

The pace is up to 50km/h at the moment as the attacks fly off the front.

The pace is still high but we have gruppo compatto for now. 

It's another day at the Vuelta a España and so there are more COVID-19 positives and more riders leaving the race.

The Vuelta a España has now seen 23 riders leave the race after testing positive for COVID-19, more than the totals from the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France put together.

Click below for our latest COVID-19 update. 

A new attack! 

Could we see Thibaut Pinot on the attack? That would be rather nice.  

Higuita and De Marchi have extended their lead to 30 seconds. Other riders are chasing them. 

We spoke to soon, Higuita and De Marchi have been swept up as the race nears the holiday destination of Nerja. 

The speed remains high but on the wide highways it is difficult for the peloton to control things. 

We have a new attack of 30 riders. That's a big one. 

For Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel is “on a different level” at this Vuelta a España. For his Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Addy Engels, he is “in a different league.” 

“At the moment, we’re in the situation that we have to hope that Primoz can still improve a bit,” Engels said. 

Click below to read Barry Ryan's full story from the Vuelta a Espana. 

A group of 32 (!) riders save a gap of 15 seconds. That's a fifth of the peloton.

Behind the attack, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Groupama-FDJ are driving the chase for Evenepoel and for the Pinot who missed the move. 

The gap is up to 20 seconds as the riders blast along the flat coastal road with a view across the beach.

Amongst the attackers are: Wilco Kelderman, Jan Polanc, Richard Carapaz, Jay Vine, Jan Bakelants, Nelson Oliveira, Marc Soler, Edoardo Zambanini, Carl Fredrik Hagen, Matteo Fabbro, Samuele Battistella, Louis Vervaeke, Aleksej Loetsenko, Gianni Vermeersch, Mike Teunissen, Lionel Taminiaux. 

Virtually every team has at least one rider in the attack apart from Groupama. 

140km to go

The peloton has eased up and the gap is at 3:00. 

After a lightning-fast opening hour at 47.3 km/h, we're in the next phase of the stage. 

If the breakaway group makes it to the finish, then it is logical that best climbers such as Richard Carapaz and Wilco Kelderman are the ones to watch.

Lotto Soudal also missed the break but will probably not help the chase today and hope for better days ahead.

Three breakaway riders are less than 20 minutes down in the GC:

Now the stage has become a pursuit match between the 32 riders in the break and the 104-rider peloton. 

110km to go

QuickStep appear to be setting a steady pace in the peloton and holding the break at around 3:00.

100km to go

Quickstep seem to have eased up. The gap has grown to 5:10. 

The average after two hours? 

The break rides through the feed zone. 

Race leader is sat behind 4 QuickStep teammates as they lead the peloton. 

Cavagna is on the front for long spells, using his TT skills to chase the attack. 

Remco Evenepoel sits behind his teammates

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Remco Evenepoel took the red jersey a week ago.

75km to go

It is interesting to see that a number of teams have more than one rider in the attack. 

68km to go

It is not a categorised climb but rises up to 500m. 

65km to go

QuickStep have Louis Vervaeke in the attack to be there for later in the stage if Evenepoel needs him. 

Samuele Battistella is the rider on the attack. 

However Astana also have Lutsenko in the attack, who could win the stage.

Samuele Battistella is committed to his attack.

55km to go

Today's stage passed through the home town of Carlos Rodríguez, one of two rising stars of Spanish cycling.  

45km to go

He has ripped his right shorts and has road rash on his right thigh.  

He seems to have just slid out on the smooth road. 

Evenepoel was not happy to crash but never panicked. He was helped by his team mechanic and then began to chase. 

This is the replay of the Evenepoel crash. 

38km to go

Samuele Battistella has been caught and so the 32-break is all together again.

Evenepoel also shook his right hand and wrist after his crash. He was not wearing track mitts and so could have suffered road rash on his hand too.

Evenepoel's crash appeared very similar to teammate Julian Alaphilippe's crash yesterday. That forced him out of the race due to a dislocated shoulder. 

As a reminder, these are the riders in the 32-rider attack:

Right now, Wilco Kelderman is second overall in the virtual standings with his presence in the breakaway.

30km to go

Here's a shot of Evenepoel's road rash. 

This is our story on his crash. We'll have reaction from the Belgian rider and his team after the stage. 

Here we go. 

According to local riders, one thing is guaranteed to strike you when you climb Penas Blancas is the view.

Click below to read the full story on the climb. 

18km to go

Alpecin are setting the pace in the attack to shake out Jay Vines' rivals. 

Wilco Kelderman is riding upfront to gain as much time on GC as possible. 

This is a close-up of Evenepoel's road rash. 

The peloton starts the climb to the finish, 9:55 down on the attackers.

14km to go

Fabbro continues to set the pace for Kelderman and spits out Lawson Craddock and others from the break.

The peloton is also splitting as Rohan Dennis puts down the hurt.

18 of the 32 riders in the break have been distanced.

The stage has been a long slow burner but is about to come alive.

10km to go

Movistar move to the front and ups the pace. Verona is riding for Mas. 

Upfront only 9 riders are left in the attack.

Movistar have eased by Jumbo have taken up the pace setting with Chris Harper. 

7km to go

Chris Turner is done and so now Roglic is isolated but perhaps ready to attack.

5km to go

Suddenly Élie Gesbert attacks and makes the selection in the break.

Jay Vine is there and following the surges. 

3.5km to go

Behind Movistar hit the front gain to set-up Mas. 

Shock up front! 

Now we have Élie Gesbert up front with Kelderman, Carapaz and Marco Brenner of DSM.

It's shredding behind in the GC group too. 

2km to go

Now Carapaz attacks and is alone. He's distanced the other three.

Behind Evenepoel seems able to control his GC rivals. 

Tao Geoghegan Hart is protecting Carlos Rodriguez for Ineos.

Carapaz is suffering up front but going clear to win the stage. 

Carapaz will leave Ineos for EF in 2023 but this is a show of pride after he lost any chance of overall victory. 

Richard Carapaz wins the stage at Peñas Blancas! 

He bangs his bars in celebration and crosses the line. 

Kelderman was only a few seconds behind Carapaz.

Carapaz has won the Giro but this is his first Vuelta stage win.

Now we switch to the GC battle. Will anyone attack? 

They are 2km from the finish.

Tao Geoghegan Hart's work is done and so Evenepoel takes over and defends from the front. 

He's switch things and showing his rivals he is still strong and still the race leader.

They're into the last kilometre.

Evenepoel looks back at his rivals and seems in control.

Nobody seems to have the physical and mental strength to attack him.

Evenepoel brings home his rivals some 7:30 down on stage winner Carapaz.

Evenepoel's pace cracks Rodriguez in the final 200 metres. 

Here's the first shot of Carapaz's stage win.

Evenepoel takes to the team radio to apologise for crashing but thanking his teammates for their hard work.

After his solid defence, Evenepoel keeps his 2:41 lead on Roglic and 3:03 on Mas.

The climb rose from sea level up to 1270m. 

These are the stage results from our friends at First Cycling.

This was the moment that Carapaz made his winning attack.

Here's another shot of Carapaz winning the stage. 

Remco Evenepoel has warmed down and pulled on a new leader's red jersey. He confirmed he does not have any injuries after his crash, just road rash.

Evenepoel spoke about his crash: 

Evenepoel explained he felt good on the final climb to the finish despite his tumble. 

Richard Carapaz seemed pretty happy to win the stage, his Ineos soigneur even more so.    

It was Carapaz's 15th career win but surprisingly his first Vuelta stage win despite his second place overall in 2020.

To read our full stage report and see our growing photo gallery of all the action plus full results, click below.

Thanks for joining our full live coverage of stage 12 of the Vuelta. 

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