Santiago Buitrago of the Bahrain Victorious team won the Alto de Velefique climb on stage 12 of the 2026 Vuelta a España. ^[1] Richard Carapaz finished in ninth place in the twelfth stage of the 2026 Vuelta a España, a route to Calar Alto. ^[2] The finish in ninth place allowed Richard Carapaz to climb to fourth place in the general classification standings. ^[3] Jakob Omrzel became the youngest Slovenian to win a Grand Tour stage with his victory on stage 12. ^[4] Jakob Omrzel, riding for the Bahrain Victorious team, won stage 12 of the Vuelta a España. ^[5] Buitrago earned 10 points for winning the first-category climb, bringing his total mountain classification score to 52. ^[6] Richard Carapaz is now 3 minutes and 53 seconds behind the leader, Enric Mas, in the general classification. ^[7] The stage winner was the Slovenian cyclist Jakob Omrzel, who finished 3 minutes and 23 seconds ahead of Carapaz. ^[8] Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar are noted as previous Slovenian riders who won on mountain-top finishes at the Vuelta a España. ^[9] The article states that Slovenia has come to dominate the current cycling era. ^[10]