La Vuelta Ciclista a España 2025 Stage 15

September 7, 2025 In modern cycling, especially at La Vuelta, sprinters need to take every opportunity they get, even if that means fighting through 3,000 vertical meters to be there at the finish. The 168KM stage from A Veiga to Monforte Lemos is heavily front loaded with climbs. Right out of the gate, as the riders leave A Veiga near the Eo River estuary, climbing begins with the category one test of the Puerto a Garganta, a 16KM climb at 5%. The next 80KM are quite difficult with at least seven distinct climbs between 2 and 12KM in length. If any sprinters are within a minute or two, they will battle with every fiber to regain contact because the next 40KM are gradually rolling downhill. A 5KM climb comes after the intermediate sprint in Sarria with 35KM to go but it is only 4% average and should be navigable for the fast men. There are three 90 degree bends in the last 2.5KM with the last one coming at just 350M from the finish. Rain had been coming down for the first 65KM but with 104KM to go, roads were drying up and the sun was starting to peek out. Nearly 50 riders were in the break on what was a very aggressive start. Jay Vine of UAE-XRG and Louis Vervaeke of Soudal Quickstep split off the front of the break and were 1 minute 15 seconds ahead with the peloton almost 10 minutes back. Lidl-Trek were heavily represented with five riders, including Mads Pedersen, and were setting the pace in group two to keep Vine and Vervaeke in check. With 65KM to go, Vine and Vervaeke had pulled out to 3 minutes over the Lidl-Trek chase group. Movistar added a man to the chase and quickly cut 45 seconds off of the deficit. As the chase group was rounding a gentle left bend with around 56KM to go, a spectator jumped out from the side of the road which forced the riders to push to the right. A touch of wheels brought down Javier Romo of Movistar. Romo got up and back in the group and, within a few kilometers, was pulling with Lidl-Trek once again. Pedersen took the intermediate sprint in Sarria and a few kilometers later, attacking started on the uncategorized climb. Pedersen found himself in a group with Egan Bernal of Ineos and Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious. A group of four came across at the top with 29KM to go which included Eddie Dunbar of Jayco AlUla, Magnus Sheffield of Ineos, Marco Frigo of Israel-Premier Tech, and Orluis Aular of Movistar. The gap to Vine and Vervaeke disintegrated and they were just 20 seconds ahead of the Pedersen group with 19KM to go. The Pedersen group wasn't working great together but they eventually caught Vine and Vervaeke just inside 7KM to go. Bernal immediately attacked and it was down to Pedersen to drag it back. The group was back together with 6KM to go but the race was becoming tactical and cagey. A number of moves were attempted but Pedersen had everything covered and the group was still together under 1KM to go. Frigo attacked in a last ditch effort with 500M to go and led through the final corner but once again, Pedersen closed it down. When he opened his sprint, no one was was able to come around and the Dane finally got his stage win after two weeks of trying at every opportunity. Aular took second on the day with Frigo holding on for third place. The peloton came in over 13 minutes later but it had little consequence to the GC. William Junior Lecerf of Soudal Quickstep was the only real mover on the day. He was in the large break and jumped four spots to ninth overall at 5 minutes 49 seconds.