Jasper Philipsen claimed his third stage victory in the Vuelta 2025. The Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck outpaced Orluis Aular and Mads Pedersen among others in the 19th stage to Guijuelo. Jonas Vingegaard, by gaining four bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, solidified his lead in the overall classification even further.
After the individual time trial the previous day, sprinters finally got their chance again on Friday during the nineteenth stage. Or would aggressive breakaway riders find an opportunity on the relatively flat 162-kilometer Spanish route?
Stage winner and classification leaders after stage 18
Because you know: a stage like this is exactly what the term ‘Spanish flat’ was made for. The route fluctuated throughout the day between 729 meters and 1012 meters in elevation. The highest point was only reached at the finish, but would that cause the true sprinters to drop off?
The answer to that last question came in the finale of the stage, but much earlier it was already clear that the sprinters’ teams had nothing to fear from attacking breakaways. Only Jakub Otruba of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Victor Guernalec of Arkea-B&B Hotels launched an attack early on in the race.
Notable yellow card
But that two-man attack didn’t last long. After just 15 kilometers, Guernalec realized his effort was doomed (or perhaps it was his team director?), the Frenchman said goodbye to his Czech breakaway companion and let the peloton catch him. It seemed it would be a long and lonely day in the breakaway for Otruba, while Cofidis and Alpecin-Deceuninck took the responsibility in the peloton and never gave him more than a four-minute lead.
The lonely Otruba on an adventure - photo: Cor Vos
You would think a lone breakaway rider would get enough TV attention, but Otruba still tried to stand out more. With 110 kilometers to go, the Czech adopted an illegal position on a descent where he had no contact with his saddle. This action was soon penalized during the race with a yellow card.
Vingegaard sprints for bonus seconds
As the race approached the intermediate sprint, the peloton’s pace increased. Otruba still took maximum points in Salamanca but was caught shortly thereafter. In the peloton, the sprint for the remaining sprint points and bonus seconds started. It was Jonas Vingegaard, brought forward by teammate Matteo Jorgenson, who secured the four remaining bonus seconds.
João Almeida and his teammates were not alert approaching the intermediate sprint, allowing the Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike to extend his overall lead from 40 to 44 seconds. Mads Pedersen again scored well for the points classification, taking fourth at the intermediate sprint.
Crosswinds yet?
Otruba had been caught by the peloton, but that did not stop a duo from Burgos-Burpellet-BH from launching an attack. However, it didn’t take long before Mario Aparicio and Sergio Chumil were reeled back in. Speed in the peloton’s front group was the reason for that.
At 35 kilometers from the finish, a small split of seven riders formed at the front of the peloton due to some crosswinds. Five riders from Alpecin-Deceuninck were present, along with Jorgenson and Vingegaard. For UAE Emirates XRG it was their task to catch the escaped Vingegaard as soon as possible. Luckily for Almeida, a regrouping happened quickly.
Setting up for the bunch sprint
The Portuguese rider thus escaped the scare, and UAE Emirates XRG was no longer willing to be caught off guard. The battle for positioning in the run-up to the bunch sprint could begin. Approaching the finish in Guijuelo, the roads narrowed significantly, making it crucial to be well positioned heading into the final kilometers.
With two kilometers to go, INEOS Grenadiers impressed with Michal Kwiatkowski, Filippo Ganna, and Ben Turner. Although Turner seemed to take the lead too early. Jasper Philipsen was, however, brought forward perfectly with one kilometer remaining. Jonas Rickaert and Edward Planckaert once again rolled out the red carpet for the Vlam van Ham.
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
This allowed Philipsen to launch his sprint roughly two hundred meters from the line. Mads Pedersen had already started his long sprint and could not really threaten the Belgian. Philipsen was able to finish the job his teammates started. Orluis Aular took third place.
Almeida and co did not want to be caught off guard again in the finale - photo: Cor Vos
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:50:35 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
