Hugh Carthy attacks GC rivals to win atop the brutal Alto de l'Angliru

Richard Carapaz takes back the Red Jersey back as Roglic suffers on the steeper slopes ahead of Tuesday's Time Trial

Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) attacked on the steep slopes of the Alto de l'Angliru to win stage 12 of the Vuelta a España on Sunday, taking his first Grand Tour stage victory.

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) who followed Carthy and Mas crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of Roglic to take back the leader’s red jersey.

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) was second and Enric Mas (Movistar) was third.

With 3.5km to go, Mas went clear to shatter the final 10 riders left. 

Primoz Roglic struggled on the steeper gradients (up to 24%) and Kuss dropped back to pace.

Primoz Roglic crossed the line 10 seconds behind Carapaz, up ahead Carthy, Vlasov and Mas grabbed the time bonuses.

With the stage victory, Carthy overtook Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) to move into third overall at 32 seconds.

Carapaz is back in red, 10 seconds up on Roglic. It will almost certainly shift backwards in the time trial on Tuesday after tomorrow's rest day.

Hugh Carthy said after the stage, "It's a dream come true to win any professional race but to win in a Grand Tour on a mythical climb, it doesn't get any better than that. It's hard to put into words.I think for the public it's everything they want, a close race heading into a time trial. It's everything to play for."

Primoz Roglic joked afterwards, "It was too hard a climb for a sprinter, eh? I didn't have the best day but at the end it's OK, I'm happy with it. Now we go on with the time trial on Tuesday. It definitely will be a really hard one. I will do my best and we will see after Tuesday."

VIDEO: 2020 La Vuelta Stage 12 Highlights

2020 La Vuelta Stage 12 Top 10

1 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling 03:08:40
2 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 00:00:16
3 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 00:00:16
4 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:16
5 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:26
6 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:00:26
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation 00:00:26
8 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 00:01:35
9 Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling 00:01:35
10 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:02:15

2020 La Vuelta GC after Stage 12 Top 10

1 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 48:29:27
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:10
3 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:32
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:35
5 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:50
6 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:05:13
7 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:30
8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:22
9 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:06:41
10 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:06:42