Date: Thursday 29 August, 2024
Distance: 137.5km
Start location: Ourense
Finish location: Manzaneda
Start time: 14:10 CET
Finish time (approx): 17:22 CET
There is much more to Grand Tour racing than just what we see happening on the road. Races only last a handful of hours each day, and in between one stage to the next, the riders must do all they can to rest, recover, and stay as fit and healthy as possible. Evening massages are a key part of this process, not just as a form of physical therapy but as a chance to reflect on how the day’s race went and discuss things with teammates and staff.
The thermal baths of Oursense, where stage twelve of the Vuelta a España will set out from, have historically served a similar purpose. Upon discovering hot springs here on the banks of the Miño River, the Romans founded the settlement (then known as Auriense) and built bathhouses to use them. For soldiers, they were frequented to heal and recuperate from their excursions on the battlefield, as well as socialise and relax with one another. The springs continue to be used today and remain Ourense’s main tourist attraction and are among the most renowned thermal sites in all of Europe.
The riders must be well recovered by the time they depart from Ourense, as stage twelve is significantly harder than a cursory glance at the parcours might suggest. Officially, there is only one climb all day, leading to the organisers labelling the stage as merely ‘hilly’, but in reality, the road undulates all day. While the riders start at 227m above sea level, by the time they reach the foot of the day’s sole climb, Estación de Montaña Manzaneda, they’ll already have risen to 765m.
This climb to the finish is not the steepest, but it’s long enough to cause damage. The first half is especially modest, averaging a little more than 4%, but things get harder for the final 7km to the top when it increases to about 6%, including one ramp at 12%. It’s only featured once at the Vuelta in 2011 when 36-year-old David Moncoutié claimed what would turn out to be the last professional win of his illustrious career en route to claiming a historic fourth consecutive King of the Mountains title.
Among the GC favourites that day, the gradients were still hard enough for Joaquim Rodríguez to gain a gap and take seven seconds from his rivals, while a little-known Chris Froome — at this point still considered a domestique to Bradley Wiggins — was dropped…