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Jakob Omrzel outclimbed the favourites on the road to Calar Alto on Thursday to take the first professional victory of his career, capping a stage 12 that reshaped the top of the standings. Enric Mas extended his lead in the general classification with a strong ride on the final climb, while Oscar Onley crashed and lost significant time, and both UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike lost a rider to abandonment. Omrzel’s performance also moved him up the overall standings, and he now sits sixth as the race enters the closing part of its second week.
In the points classification, Visma | Lease a Bike continue to hold a commanding advantage through Matthew Brennan, who has already taken three stage wins in this Vuelta. The sprinters’ field has thinned considerably, with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) both out of the race, which changes the calculation for teams deciding whether to chase on days like this one. Mountain points were again on offer at Calar Alto, and stage 13 puts three more categorised climbs into play for anyone targeting the polka dot jersey from the breakaway.
Stage 13: The Route and Its Challenges
Stage 13 runs 192.8 kilometres from Almuñécar to Loja and is classified as a mountain stage, though several previews describe it as a medium mountain or hilly day with a flat finish. The total elevation gain is 3,414 metres, and the defining feature of the parcours is that almost all of that climbing is packed into the first half of the day.
The riders leave Almuñécar, the birthplace of Carlos Rodríguez (Netcompany INEOS), and follow the coast to Salobreña before turning inland. The road tilts up almost immediately towards the Guájares mountains and the first categorised climb, the Alto de la Venta de la Cebada, a first-category ascent of 14.1 kilometres at 5.1 per cent with maximum gradients around 12 per cent. Its summit comes early, at roughly kilometre 31 and around 161 kilometres from the line, so its direct influence on the finale is limited — but it is the launchpad for the day’s breakaway, and getting into that move will be expensive.
What follows is unrelenting rather than steep. A short rise to Pinos del Valle interrupts the descent, then a 7.6-kilometre drag at 4.4 per cent towards Lecrín leads onto rolling terrain to Padul. Just beyond Padul comes the Alto del Legionario, a third-category climb of 15.4 kilometres at 3.1 per cent that is never severe but grinds away at tired legs. By its summit at around kilometre 84, the bulk of the day’s climbing is complete.
A long descent to the Los Bermejales reservoir and an uncategorised rise of 5.1 kilometres at 3.5 per cent take the race towards Tocón, site of the intermediate sprint with 47.8 kilometres remaining. From there the final categorised obstacle, the second-category Puerto de Granada, measures 7.4 kilometres at 5.6 per cent and crests 37.4 kilometres from the finish. That is the last realistic launchpad for a move, but it is also far enough out that a versatile fast finisher who survives it has a genuine chance of returning to the front.
The run-in is fast and predominantly downhill, and from Huétor-Tájar, 11.9 kilometres out, the road is essentially flat. Inside the final 1.5 kilometres the gradient tips up to average close to 4 per cent, a slight incline rather than a climb, but enough to alter a sprint. There are also roundabouts on the finishing straight that the peloton must pass straight through. Conditions will be a factor: around 25°C at the coastal start, rising steadily inland, with the finish in Loja forecast to reach 38°C under a clear sky.
Source: procyclingstats.com
Favourites for the Stage
Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) enters the stage as the standout favourite. The profile suits his particular range — enough climbing to remove the purest sprinters, but not enough close to the finish to guarantee a selection that excludes him. He has been third at Aramón Valdelinares from the break, fourth in Elche de la Sierra, and a lead-out man in Lorca, and Loja represents one of his clearest opportunities of the race so far.
- Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility)
- Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility)
- Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility)
- Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility)
- Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana)
- Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek)
- Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United)
- Bryan Coquard (Cofidis)
- Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
- Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious)
- Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
- Alexey Lutsenko (NSN)
- Bruno Armirail (Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Raúl García Pierna (Movistar)
- Iván Romeo (Movistar)
- Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
- Marcel Camprubí (Pinarello-Q36.5)
- Axel Laurance (Netcompany INEOS)
The star ratings place three names in the top tier: Wout van Aert, Magnus Cort Nielsen and Alessandro Romele — all riders who can climb well enough to stay in a select group and still finish quickly. The two-star group covers Kevin Vermaerke, Eddie Dunbar and Santiago Buitrago, breakaway-capable riders whose chances rise if the stage becomes genuinely selective. The one-star group is long and reflects how open the day is: Finn Fisher-Black, Matthew Brennan, Bruno Armirail, Léo Bisiaux, Bastien Tronchon, Pello Bilbao, Ramses Debruyne, Alexey Lutsenko, Pau Miquel, Tobias Johannessen, Andreas Leknessund, Andreas Kron, Stefan Küng, Jarno Widar and Urko Berrade. Bilbao has an added incentive, as a win in Loja would complete his set of stage victories across all three Grand Tours.
Prediction
The prediction here is Wout van Aert to win ahead of Magnus Cort and Alessandro Romele. The reasoning follows the shape of the parcours: the Venta de la Cebada is too far out to decide anything, the Puerto de Granada is hard enough to shed the pure fast men but is followed by 37 kilometres of largely downhill and flat road, and the shallow rise inside the final kilometre favours a powerful finisher over a pure sprinter. That combination points to a reduced group or a strong breakaway contesting the win, which is precisely the scenario in which all three top-rated riders operate best. It should be noted that not every preview lands on the same name: one of the source picks is Magnus Cort, on the expectation of a small-group sprint, which is a reasonable alternative reading of the same finale.
Beyond the stage itself, this is one of the last genuinely open days before the race turns decisively uphill again. Stage 14 climbs to the Sierra de la Pandera, and the final week brings a long time trial and the summit finishes at Peñas Blancas and Collado del Alguacil. For Enric Mas and his GC rivals, Friday is about staying safe in the heat and conserving energy; for the breakaway riders and rouleurs, it is one of the few remaining chances to convert weeks of work into a result.
Summary
- Distance: 192.8 km, Almuñécar to Loja
- Terrain type: mountain / medium mountain stage with a flat finish
- Elevation gain: 3,414 m, with most of it in the first 84 kilometres
- Key climbs: Alto de la Venta de la Cebada (cat. 1, 14.1 km at 5.1%, km 30.9); Alto del Legionario (cat. 3, 15.4 km at 3.1%, km 80.1); Puerto de Granada (cat. 2, 7.4 km at 5.6%, km 155, summit 37.4 km from the finish)
- Conditions: hot and sunny, around 25°C at the start in Almuñécar, up to 38°C at the finish in Loja
- Timing: start 12:20 CEST (11:20 UK), estimated finish between 17:16 and 17:30 CEST
- Favourite for the win: Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Predicted podium: 1. Wout van Aert, 2. Magnus Cort, 3. Alessandro Romele