Spain's Enric Mas has strengthened his grip on the Vuelta a Espana, extending his overall lead with a decisive late attack on Stage 12. Meanwhile, Slovenia's Jakob Omrzel, 20, celebrated his maiden Grand Tour stage victory in Calar Alto.
Omrzel powered clear of his breakaway companions on the challenging 17km final climb, finishing nearly two minutes ahead of Urko Berrade, with Santiago Buitrago in third. His impressive performance also brought him within 30 seconds of Oscar Onley in the best young rider's classification.
Mas, riding for Movistar, broke away from a small group including four-time champion Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall with approximately 13km remaining of the 166.6km mountainous course. Neither Roglic nor Gall, who are second and third in the general classification, could respond to Mas's surge, allowing him to add a further 27 seconds to his advantage on a day of intense heat featuring five categorised climbs.
Mas ultimately finished sixth on the stage, just under three minutes behind Omrzel, but his strategic move saw his overall lead grow to 1 minute 56 seconds. British rider Oscar Onley of Netcompany Ineos endured a difficult day, suffering an early crash and then being dropped on the final climb, causing him to slip to fifth in the general classification.
The race continues with stages in the mountains and hills around Malaga and Granada's Sierra Nevada, culminating in Andalusia on Sunday, 13 September.