Alto de l'Angliru (Spain) (AFP)

The Briton Hugh Carthy tamed the formidable percentages of Angliru on Sunday to win the 12th stage of the Tour of Spain, in which the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz took over the reins at the expense of the Slovenian Primoz Roglic.

In difficulty in the final ascent, Roglic finally limited the damage by conceding only ten seconds to Carapaz.

The next stage, a time trial of about thirty kilometers on Tuesday, after a day of rest, could allow him to return to the front.

At the end of the 109.4 km between Pola de Laviana and the summit of Asturias, Carthy was 16 seconds ahead of Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) and Spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar).

Before this first success in a grand tour, the Briton, aged 26, had only one prestigious success, in a stage of the Tour de Suisse in 2019.

"It's a dream come true. It's hard to put words on it," marveled the winner at the Eurosport microphone.

In the general classification, Carapaz (Ineos, 4th Sunday) is now ahead of Roglic (Jumbo-Visma, 5th) by 10 seconds, and Carthy climbs on the podium 22 seconds behind the Slovenian.

Carapaz will not have given up the leader's tunic for long, since it had been dispossessed for a few hundredths on Friday, at the end of the 10th stage.

"It was very difficult, there was natural selection," commented the Ecuadorian.

Unlike Roglic, already triple stage winner, Carapaz has not yet raised its arms from the start.

- Mas is revealed, Carthy replies -

The first four of the general classification are now held in 35 seconds, the Irishman Dan Martin having fallen from the podium in favor of Carthy.

The big loser of the day is the Spaniard Marc Soler, who slipped from 6th to 19th place in the general classification.

Sunday, the stage was led by Frenchman Guillaume Martin, who took the first four climbs of the day in the lead and consolidated his lead in the mountain classification.

With his last two breakaway companions, the Italian Mattia Cattaneo and the Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez, the Cofidis rider was caught in the first few hundred meters of the final ascent, the formidable Angliru.

After a start to the ascent mastered by the riders of the Jumbo-Visma, Enric Mas was the first favorite to reveal himself by accelerating to three kilometers from the finish.

Carthy responded to him 2 kilometers from the line by launching his decisive offensive, on percentages flirting with 20%.

A few seconds later, Roglic started to lose a few meters on Carapaz and Martin before reacting to finish ten seconds behind the South American Carapaz and 26 behind the winner.

© 2020 AFP