Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) claimed a supremely emotional victory on day 12 of La Vuelta 24. Not only did the young Spaniard take his first professional victory and his team’s first ever Grand Tour stage win… He did so on the day after their emblematic founder and leader Manolo Azcona passed away, at the age of 71. Some 70 riders turned professional through Azcona’s teams and Castrillo is one of the latest to have done so, a couple of years ago. A fierce battle on the slopes leading to the Manzaneda mountain resort saw him get the better of his breakaway companions, with Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) coming second, ahead of Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), another disciple of Azcona. The GC contenders finished together ahead of another stage over the Galiacian summits.
Stage 12 of La Vuelta 24 is the third set in Galicia. After Pontevedra and A Coruña, the riders visit the province of Ourense, where Carlos Canal (the only Galician rider in La Vuelta 24) hails from. The riders will head to a summit finish at the Manzaneda ski resort. There are no categorised climbs prior to the final ascent but the day will be demanding nonetheless, with constant ups and downs adding up to a total elevation of 3,100m.
An inspired breakaway
The terrain inspires the early attackers, who quickly initiate a fierce battle for the breakaway. Ten riders go clear after they’ve covered 42.1km in the first hour, on a rolling terrain: Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Jhonatan Narvaez, Oscar Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Mauri Vansevenant (T-Rex Quick-Step), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) and Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma).
Three of them - Soler, Rodriguez and Castrillo - rode for the iconic development team Lizarte (now Finisher), built by Manolo Azcona, founder of the Asociacion Deportiva Galibier in 1993, the structure that also gave birth to Equipo Kern Pharma. A moment of silence was observed at the start to celebrate the memory of Azcona, who passed away on Wednesday at 71 years old.
Castrillo, for Azcona
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale drive the bunch and the gap goes up to 10’12’’ at km 86. The pace gradually picks up towards the decisive climb but the ten attackers are still 7’15’’ away at the bottom.
Soler attacks with 14 kilometres to go… But his rivals react. Verona counter-attacks but it isn’t enough either. And then, Castrillo sets off with 10km to go. He only looks back inside the last kilometre to see he could hold off Poole and raise a finger to the sky, for Manolo Azcona.
The GC contenders finished together, with a gap of 6’30’’.
