Stage 12 of the Vuelta a España was won on the brutal Asturian climb, the Alto de Langrir, for the eighth time in race history.

The Englishman, along with Roberto Heras, Alberto Contador, and Jose Maria Jimenez, won one of the toughest climbs in pro cycling, moving from fourth to third overall in the process.

Kersee finished 16 seconds ahead of his rivals and also earned a 10-second bonus, extending his lead from 58 seconds to 32 seconds. Israel Startup Nation leader Dan Martin finished the stage in seventh place, 26 seconds behind the new race leader, who dropped to fourth place, 35 seconds behind the new race leader.

That leader is Richard Kalapas of Ineos Grenadiers. Kalapas finished in the second group on the road with Astana's Alexandre Vlasov and Movistar's Enric Mas, 10 seconds ahead of red jersey holder Primos Roglic of Jumbo Visma, but missed the time bonuses for second and third place.

Roglic dropped to second place overall by 10 seconds, 22 seconds behind Carty. Meanwhile, Mas remained in fifth place overall with 1 hour and 50 minutes, while Vlasov moved up six places to ninth. Vlasov moved up six places to ninth place.

Wout Poels, who leads Bahrain McLaren in Spain, was behind the winner. He was 1:35 behind Carty and moved up three places in the overall standings to sixth, 5:13 behind. Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) held on to seventh place, 2:15 behind but 5:30 ahead, and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) held on to eighth place, 2:54 behind but 6:22 ahead of 13th place.

The biggest loser of the day, however, was Valverde's teammate and stage 11 winner Marc Soler. The Spaniard fell on the day's final climb, and then again on the early slopes of the Angliru. He eventually finished 42nd, more than 14 minutes behind the leader, and dropped from 6th to 19th overall.

After 12 days of racing, with rest days and time trials on the menu, this race is still exquisitely poised, even if Roglic will try to take a big time away from Calapaz on Tuesday.

Kati is the strongest against the clock of the Slovenian challengers, but the rest of the top four, currently separated by just 35 seconds, will likely have to attack the defending champion hard in the remaining mountain stages.