Pablo Castrillo claimed the biggest win of his career with a brilliant summit finish to beat Britain’s Max Poole on stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana.

The 23-year-old Equipo Kern Pharma rider, making his Grand Tour debut, approached the final kilometre with a lead of around half a minute but held off 21-year-old Poole on the gruelling ascent to Montana de Manzaneda to win by eight seconds.

UAE Team Emirates’ Marc Soler finished third to complete the stage podium.

Australian Ben O’Connor maintained his three minutes and 16 seconds lead over Primoz Roglic in the general classification.

Castrillo’s victory was an emotional one as it came on the day it was announced that Kern Pharma’s former team president, Manolo Azcona, had died following an illness.

“It’s unbelievable,” Castrillo said. “It’s for the team, and it’s for the staff.

“I was very nervous for the final but I decided to attack in the flat and take victory.”