Jakob Omrzel claimed the first professional victory of his young career — and already a big one — on Stage 12 of La Vuelta a España, completing a memorable day for Bahrain Victorious with a solo win at Calar Alto.

The 166.6 kilometre mountain stage from Vera saw Omrzel, Santiago Buitrago and Pello Bilbao all make the large breakaway. With Bilbao helping to manage the group, Buitrago collected valuable points towards the mountains classification before the team turned its attention to the stage victory.

Omrzel attacked from the reduced front group with 13 kilometres remaining on the final climb and continued alone to the summit, winning by 1:56. Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) finished second, while Buitrago secured third place to complete a double podium for Bahrain Victorious.

The result also moved Omrzel up to sixth overall, while Buitrago retained the KOM jersey after adding to his lead in the classification.

Jakob Omrzel said: “I felt really good today. We knew it would be a hard stage, and we put three of our strongest riders in the break with me, Santi and Pello. The guys were amazing, and the team did a perfect job.

It was like playing PlayStation. We said that we needed to set a really hard pace so the others would suffer a bit, and I was strong. At the end, I was speechless, but I’m not surprised because I’ve worked hard with the team, with our Sports Director Borut Božič, my coach Alessio and the other people close to me. I’m just grateful to have them with me.”

Sports Director Franco Pellizotti said after the stage: “It was an amazing stage for us. I would say it was like playing PlayStation because we asked the riders to go in the break, and they did it. Then, once they were there, Pello managed the group really well, and with Santi and Jakob we produced an amazing finale.

I’m super happy for Jakob and his stage victory, and for Santi taking more points for the mountains classification. It’s an unbelievable day. The guys have done an amazing job every day across these first 12 stages, and today’s result is also a nice reward for all of them.”

Sports Director Borut Božič added: “After the national championships, we started talking about sending Jakob to La Vuelta because there are many stages that suit his characteristics, with so many mountain finishes.

Considering his age, we didn’t know if it might be too much for him, but he started La Vuelta in good shape and showed that from the beginning. We believed that he could achieve something and surprise on one of the stages, but we continued to take it day by day.

I think we can be proud as a team, and especially proud of Jakob. I’m also proud of how we managed everything and how it all came together. It’s amazing. You keep believing, believing and believing, and at some point you achieve it.”