Henok climbs to 46th overall after Calar Alto breakaway

Henok Mulubrhan moved into the top 50 of the 2026 Vuelta a España on Thursday after joining the breakaway on a demanding mountain stage to Calar Alto.

The Eritrean finished Stage 12 in 39th place, completing the 166.6-kilometre route from Vera in 4:49:40, 19 minutes and 47 seconds behind winner Jakob Omrzel. He climbed 13 positions to 46th overall, although his deficit to race leader Enric Mas widened to 1:24:00.

A day after recording his best finish of the race with 13th in the Lorca sprint, Mulubrhan took his racing to the front on very different terrain. He was part of the large breakaway on a route featuring five categorised climbs and a summit finish at 2,153 metres. Omrzel ultimately rode clear to claim the stage alone.

Mulubrhan remains on 11 points, placing him 61st in the points classification. His XDS Astana teammates Cristian Rodríguez and Harold Tejada finished 17th and 21st respectively on the stage.

Friday’s Stage 13 covers 192.8 kilometres from Almuñécar to Loja. An early category-one climb and two further categorised ascents could create another opening for attackers. With the final classified summit around 37 kilometres from the finish, the route offers a different prospect from Calar Alto: a chance for a breakaway to survive or a reduced group to contest the line.