Geniez won the stage for AG2R-La Mondiale ahead of Team Sky’s Dylan Van Baarle of the Netherlands and Ukrainian Mark Padun of Bahrain-Merida following the 181.1km journey from Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares in Mañón.

A breakaway group of 18 riders set the pace, opening up an advantage of over 10 minutes to the peloton.

Both Frenchman Geniez and Spaniard Herrada rode with the breakaway ahead of the peloton.

With five kilometres to go, the breakaway group split into a lead group of eight riders, with 10 falling two minutes behind.

Several attacks were made in the final 20km but Geniez ultimately sprinted to the finish ahead of the rest.

Herrada fell back and finished 2min 33sec behind the leaders.

With the peloton only able to close the gap slightly, Herrada finished nine minutes ahead of Yates, allowing him to secure the top spot in the general classification.

With Herrarda now in red, it is the first time since 2016 that a Spanish rider has worn the jersey at the Grand Tour race.

His performance for Confidis pushes Yates of Mitchelton-Scott into second and fellow home rider Alejandro Valverde of Movistar into third in the general classification standings.

The gap between Yates and Herrada is now 3:22 going into tomorrow's 13th stage, where the riders will tackle a 174.8km route from Candás to La Camperona.