La Vuelta 2022 - Remco Evenepoel recovers from crash to lay down marker, Richard Carapaz wins Stage 12

For the first time in his debut Vuelta, things did not go entirely according to plan for Remco Evenepoel after the race leader became the second Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider in as many days to hit the deck on a slippery corner. Luckily for the red jersey, the damage was not as severe as it was for his team-mate Julian Alaphilippe 24 hours earlier, the French world champion having been forced out of the race with a dislocated shoulder.

Ad For Evenepoel, the damage was just superficial – a few cuts and bruises, not least to his ego after skidding out on an innocuous corner that posed no danger, at a point in the race where the Belgian was under no real pressure. Vuelta a EspañaRed jersey Evenepoel crashes, rages at commissairesAN HOUR AGO After venting his fury at the race director – citing the over-zealous braking of a motorcycle ahead of the peloton, plus the quality of the road surface – Evenepoel fought back into the pack and gathered his calm ahead of the final climb.

Here on the Penas Blancas, Evenepoel rode defensively in the wake of a superb stage win from Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), the Olympic champion proving himself to be the strongest of the day’s large 32-man breakaway. Carapaz crossed the line nine seconds clear of the Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe), who rose 15 places to sixth in the new top 10.

Slovenia’s Jan Polanc also entered the top 10 after taking fourth place in the stage just behind his UAE Team Emirates colleague Marc Soler. Australia’s Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) also featured in the breakaway but the double stage winner was unable to replicate his form from the opening week of the race, fading to seventh place on the final climb but retaining the polka dot jersey.