The finish of the twelfth stage is at a ski resort, which means one thing: it’s going to be a climbing day in the high mountains. The peloton will ride from (almost) sea level to an elevation of 1500 meters. There is only one categorized climb on the route, but it is rarely flat.

The stage starts in Ourense, Galicia. This city last hosted the Vuelta in 2020, when Tim Wellens secured his second stage win of the race ahead of Michael Woods, Zdenek Stybar, and Dylan van Baarle. Vuelta debutant Thymen Arensman finished sixth in that stage.

In the first kilometers, the riders face a significant climb right away. The initial three kilometers ascend to Montealegre with an average gradient of nearly eight percent. We can expect an early battle for a breakaway here. After that, the peloton will continue at a steady pace to an altitude of almost seven hundred meters.

The rest of the day will follow a similar pattern as the peloton rides east. After 74 kilometers, there is another short climb of three kilometers at seven percent, and another brief climb occurs after 100 kilometers.

At just over 110 kilometers, the climb to the ski resort at Manzaneda begins (16 km at 4.7 percent). While the final climb’s gradient remains relatively moderate, it gradually becomes steeper as the summit approaches. The initial kilometers see gradients around three percent, but the final kilometers stay above seven percent.

David Moncoutié is currently the only rider to have won at Manzaneda. He claimed victory in 2011 from an early breakaway, beating Beñat Intxausti.