Preston's Hugh Carthy wins his first Grand Tour stage on day 12 at the Vuelta a Espana

EF Pro Cycling rider Carthy put in a colossal surge over the final 1,200 metres to the summit finish on the steep slopes of the Alto de L'Angliru to finish 16 seconds ahead of Astana's Aleksandr Vlasov, with Movistar's Enric Mas third.

"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," 26-year-old Carthy told Eurosport after the race.

"I think for the public it's everything they want, a close race heading into a time trial. It's everything to play for."

Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers finished fourth to move clear at the top of the general classification and regain the red leader's jersey after being tied on time with Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) for the last three days.

Slovenia's Roglic came home 10 seconds further behind in fifth place after a short, but challenging 109.4km stage.

Carthy, who hails from Fulwood, has climbed up into third place overall, leapfrogging Ireland's Dan Martin, and sits 32 seconds behind Ecuador's Carapaz.