The Spanish rider Jesús Herrada became the overall leader of the Vuelta a España on Thursday while the Frenchman Alexandre Geniez won stage 12 with a nail-biting sprint to the finish line as he pipped Team Sky’s Dylan van Baarle to victory.

Cofidis’ Herrada took the red jersey from Britain’s Simon Yates after joining a second breakaway group that finished 2min 32sec behind Geniez and over nine minutes ahead of Yates and the other general classification hopefuls.

Herrada holds an impressive lead of 3min 32sec over Yates, who slipped to second place, while Alejandro Valverde is now third, a further second behind, and Nairo Quintana is down to fourth.

Geniez edged ahead in the final few metres of the 180.1km flat stage from Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares to beat Van Baarle by half a wheel and grab a third victory at the Vuelta after winning stages in 2013 and 2016.

Quick Guide Vuelta overall standings Show 1 Jesús Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 50hr 28min 56sec 2 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott +3min 22sec 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +3min 23sec 4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +3min 36sec 5 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida +3min 39sec 6 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +3min 46sec 7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe +3min 46sec 8 Miguel Ángel López (Col) Astana Pro Team +3min 49sec 9 Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale +3min 54sec 10 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo +4min 5sec -

There was further pain for Van Baarle, who looked visibly disappointed at narrowly missing out on the stage win and crashed into a photographer shortly after crossing the finish line.

The Vuelta returns to the mountains in Friday’s stage 13, a 174.8km route from Candás Carreno to La Camperona with a summit finish.