Omrzel, 20, Wins Vuelta Stage on Grand Tour Debut

On his Grand Tour debut, Jakob Omrzel delivered a stage win for the ages at the 2026 Vuelta a España. The 20-year-old Slovenian attacked from a large breakaway and held off the field to take his first professional victory.

Solo into the thin air

Stage 12 rolled out of Vera across 166.6 kilometres of climbing roads. Bahrain Victorious placed three riders in a 30-man move that gained a massive lead over the red jersey group.

With 11.7 kilometres remaining, Omrzel shed his final breakaway companion, Urko Berrade, and pressed on alone. He hit the final kilometre with a three-minute buffer on the general classification favourites behind.

Records tumble for a late starter

Omrzel crossed the line in 4:29:53, a full 1:56 ahead of Berrade and 2:13 up on teammate Santiago Buitrago. The win made him the youngest Grand Tour stage victor since Celestino Prieto in 1981 and the youngest Slovenian ever, lifting a benchmark held by Tadej Pogačar.

Born in Novo Mesto on 21 March 2006, Omrzel was the youngest rider in the Vuelta peloton. His only prior headline result was a come-from-behind overall win at the 2025 Giro Next Gen, the under-23 “Baby Giro.”

The calm of a next-gen leader

“I’m not surprised because I know how much work I put in, and I knew that these days were going to come sooner or later,” Omrzel told reporters afterwards. He played down the age record, calling it a “nice statistic” that still required continued hard work.

Behind him, Enric Mas attacked the GC contenders to extend his overall lead. But the stage belonged entirely to a 20-year-old riding his first three-week race, a new name written into Slovenia’s Grand Tour lineage.