The 2022 Vuelta a España was the 77th edition of Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Vuelta began in Utrecht on 19 August, and Stage 12 from Salobreña to Peñas Blancas occurred on 1 September. The race finished in Madrid on 11 September.
Classification standings Legend Denotes the leader of the general classification Denotes the leader of the young rider classification Denotes the leader of the points classification Denotes the leader of the team classification Denotes the leader of the mountains classification Denotes the winner of the combativity award
Stage 12 1 September 2022 – Salobreña to Peñas Blancas,
The twelfth stage featured the race's fourth summit finish as the riders headed towards the climb of Peñas Blancas. The first were mostly flat before the riders tackled an uncategorized climb. Following the descent, the riders went towards the intermediate sprint at Estepona with left, with the sprint offering bonus seconds to the first three riders across. Shortly after, the riders began the climb of the first-category Peñas Blancas. The climb, which last featured in the Vuelta in 2013, is long with an average of 6.7 percent.
After around of constant attacks, a large 32-man break escaped from the peloton. The biggest GC threat from the break was Wilco Kelderman (), who was 14' 04" down. Initially, and controlled the gap but they gradually let the gap go out to 10 minutes. With remaining, Samuele Battistella () attacked from the break. He had a lead of almost a minute but he was eventually brought back by the rest of the break. Meanwhile, in the peloton, the race leader, Remco Evenepoel () went down together with his teammate, Ilan Van Wilder. Both riders were not injured and they eventually made it back to the peloton. Evenepoel's crash caused the break's advantage to increase to minutes, which meant that Kelderman was second in the virtual GC at one point in the stage. At the foot of the climb of Peñas Blancas, the break still had an advantage of 10 minutes.
On the climb, the duo of Lionel Taminiaux and Gianni Vermeersch set the pace for Jay Vine before Matteo Fabbro () took over at the front of the break. His pace thinned out the break until Elie Gesbert () attacked inside the final . After he was brought back, Jan Polanc () made an unsuccessful attack before Gesbert went again. At this point, Vine began to drop from the front group. Just under the -to-go mark, Richard Carapaz () launched his attack. Gesbert and Kelderman tried to go in pursuit of Carapaz but the Ecuadorian gradually increased his lead. He would not be caught as he took his first Vuelta stage win. Kelderman crossed the line in second at nine seconds down while Marc Soler (), who was initially dropped, came back to finish third at 24 seconds down.
Meanwhile, in the peloton, continued to pace the peloton before took over on the climb. Further up the climb, took over the pacemaking before Enric Mas () accelerated from the peloton. Evenepoel and Miguel Ángel López () were immediately on his wheel but Primož Roglič (), Carlos Rodríguez (), and Juan Ayuso () gradually caught up with them. Inside the final , Rodríguez tried to make his move but he did not gap the rest of the group. Towards the line, Rodríguez and López were dropped by Evenepoel's pace. Evenepoel, Roglič, Mas, and Ayuso finished seven and a half minutes down while López and Rodríguez lost six and 11 seconds, respectively. The rest of the contenders lost between 28 seconds and around a minute and a half.
In the GC, Evenepoel kept the red jersey, maintaining his advantage over Roglič, Mas, and Ayuso. Despite losing 11 seconds, Rodríguez kept his fourth place. With their time gains from the break, Kelderman and Polanc entered the top ten at sixth and ninth, respectively. Another change was López overtaking João Almeida () for seventh place while Tao Geoghegan Hart () dropped to tenth.
Stage 13 2 September 2022 – Ronda to Montilla,
The thirteenth stage featured a transition stage from Ronda to Montilla. There were no categorized climbs on the route but the entirety of the stage had a rolling terrain with several lumps on the route. The intermediate sprint was located in Espejo with to go while also offering bonus seconds to the first three riders across. Near the finish, the riders went up two short climbs, including one in the final which averaged 5 percent.
Before the stage, it was reported that Juan Ayuso (), who was fifth on GC, tested positive for COVID-19. However, a PCR test deemed that he had a low risk of infectivity and thus, he remained in the race. Immediately as the stage started, Joan Bou (), Ander Okamika (), and Julius van den Berg () broke away from the peloton. The peloton quickly gave the break an advantage of around two and a half minutes before the sprinters' teams controlled the gap. Soon, the gap went past three minutes before the peloton began to decrease the break's advantage. Right after the riders went past the intermediate sprint, van den Berg was dropped from the break before getting swept by the peloton, with the other two also getting caught shortly after. The bunch soon headed towards an inevitable sprint, with leading the peloton into the final kilometer as they teed up Primož Roglič for the uphill drag to the line. On the uphill section, began their lead out before Pascal Ackermann () launched an early sprint. Mads Pedersen () went after him before going past the German near the finish. Pedersen would not be caught as he took the stage win. Bryan Coquard () had a late surge to finish second while Ackermann held on for third. All the GC contenders finished in the front group as Remco Evenepoel () kept the red jersey ahead of a weekend of mountain stages.
Stage 14 3 September 2022 – Montoro to Sierra de La Pandera,
The race returned to the mountains on the fourteenth stage as the riders headed towards a summit finish at Sierra de La Pandera. The first were mostly flat before the riders gradually climbed towards the foot of the third-category Puerto de Siete Pilillas. Following the descent, the riders passed through the intermediate sprint with left. After an uncategorized climb, the riders reached the foot of the second-category Puerto de Los Villares, a climb with an average of 5.5 percent. As the riders crested the top, which offered bonus seconds, there was a plateau section before the final climb, the first-category Sierra de La Pandera. The climb is long with an average of 7.8 percent and also featured multiple 15 percent sections. Towards the top, there was a short descent before once again ramping up near the finish line.
The start of the stage was marked by a long fight for the break. It took more than before an attack by Richard Carapaz () and Alexey Lutsenko () got some leeway from the peloton. They were joined by eight other riders to form the break of the day. The break built a maximum advantage of four and a half minutes over the peloton, which was being led by . As the break reached the intermediate sprint, Mads Pedersen () took maximum points to further extend his lead in the points classification. The advantage hovered around four minutes as the riders headed towards the foot of the penultimate climb, the Puerto de Los Villares. On the climb, the break began to split with the riders beginning to attack each other. Towards the top, Luis León Sánchez () got a gap over his breakaway companions, taking a 15-second lead at the top. On the short plateau section before the final climb, Carapaz caught up with Sánchez out front. They were soon joined by Clément Champoussin () and Filippo Conca () to form a quartet up front. With around to go, Carapaz dropped his breakaway companions in pursuit of the stage win. He would not be caught as he took his second stage win in a span of three days.
Meanwhile, in the peloton, continued to pace the peloton until they reached the climb of Puerto de Los Villares. In the middle of the climb, took over at the front of the peloton, eating into the break's advantage. The peloton continued to thin out before Primož Roglič () attacked with around remaining. The race leader, Remco Evenepoel () tried to bring Roglič back but it soon appeared that he was struggling as the other contenders began to drop him. Roglič was soon joined by Enric Mas () and Miguel Ángel López (), with the trio increasing their lead over Evenepoel. Near the top, Mas was dropped as Roglič and López tried to catch Carapaz. They eventually fell short by seven seconds, with López and Roglič taking second and third, respectively. João Almeida () passed and dropped Mas, finishing a further 19 seconds behind while Mas and Carlos Rodríguez () finished 28 seconds behind López and Roglič. Thymen Arensman () was 43 seconds down while five seconds later, Evenepoel finished with Juan Ayuso (), who suffered from an untimely puncture on the climb.
In the GC, Evenepoel retained the red jersey with a reduced advantage of 1' 49" on Roglič, who gained 52 seconds on the Belgian, including bonus seconds. Mas and Rodríguez gained 20 seconds and retained their GC positions while Ayuso rounded out the top five. López and Almeida moved up to sixth and seventh, respectively, having overtaken Wilco Kelderman (), who lost more than a minute. Tao Geoghegan Hart () moved up to ninth while Ben O'Connor () moved inside the top ten.
Stage 15 4 September 2022 – Martos to Sierra Nevada,
The fifteenth stage featured the race's queen stage, with the riders heading towards the highest point of this year's Vuelta at Sierra Nevada. The first were mostly flat before the riders went up the third-category Puerto del Castillo. Following an undulating section and a valley section, the riders passed through the intermediate sprint in Granada with left. Shortly afterwards, the riders went up the first-category Alto del Purche, which is long with an average of 7.6 percent. Bonus seconds were on offer at the top of the climb, from the finish. Following the descent, the riders faced an uncategorized climb before reaching the foot of the final climb of the day, the special-category Alto Hoya de la Mora, a climb with an average of 7.9 percent. The riders headed to the top via the Alto de Hazallanas, with the first of the climb averaging more than 10 percent. Afterwards, the rest of the climb towards Sierra Nevada averages 5.5 percent, with the riders finishing at above sea level.
At the start of the stage, six riders got a gap over the rest of the peloton. As the riders continued attacking, there was a crash that involved Wilco Kelderman (), who suffered from bruises but was able to get back to the peloton. Up front, only Rohan Dennis (), Vincenzo Nibali (), and Hugh Carthy () remained until they were eventually joined by 26 other riders to form the break of the day. The best-placed GC man in the break was Thymen Arensman (), who was only 9' 14" down. soon began to control the peloton, allowing the gap to reach six minutes before took over as Arensman threatened Ben O'Connor's place on GC. Back at the front, the break kept working together until Lawson Craddock () launched an attack with to go. He extended his lead over the chasers to around a minute and a half as he reached the penultimate climb, the Alto del Purche. Eventually, Jay Vine () accelerated out of the chasing group. He caught Craddock near the top before sprinting to take the maximum KOM points, adding to his lead in the KOM classification.