The fifteenth stage of the Vuelta a España 2025 was won from a monster breakaway by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The wearer of the green jersey joined a large leading group of almost 50 riders, survived the selection in the final phase, and ultimately won the sprint from a remaining group of nine. Orluis Aular and Marco Frigo finished second and third. The peloton gave the escapees more than 14 minutes' advantage; in the general classification, Junior Lecerf made a significant leap.
After two tough mountain stages in Asturias, the peloton faced a transition stage ending in Monforte de Lemos. Immediately after the start came the Puerto A Garganta (17.6 km at 4.9%) and, shortly after that, the Alto de Barbeitos (11.8 km at 3.8%). After this summit, the route undulates for about 50 kilometers, before the last 70 kilometers are almost completely flat again, except for a steeply rising section of 10 kilometers.
A Veiga) Monforte de Lemos)It became clear early in the stage that this would be an opportunity for the attackers. Green jersey Mads Pedersen immediately made his presence felt on the first climb by joining a breakaway that also included the polka dot jersey Jay Vine, Orluis Aular and Lars Craps. Various groups formed during this phase, and Egan Bernal, Giulio Ciccone, and Junior Lecerf were also among them.
All breakaway groups merged after 30 kilometers of racing, revealing nearly 50 leaders. Pedersen had four teammates with him, and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, INEOS Grenadiers, and Picnic PostNL also had strong numbers. The pace therefore did not slow down. Alpecin-Deceuninck gambled on a sprint chance for Jasper Philipsen, but the chase never got properly underway. Cofidis also contributed briefly as they had missed the move but that wasn’t enough against the breakaway.
Therefore, Philipsen launched his own attack alongside teammate Gal Glivar and two Cofidis riders. Daan Hoole joined as a disruptor and managed to stop the attempt on the Alto de Barbeitos. The Philipsen group closed to within three minutes of the leaders but saw the effort as futile, and gave the escapees a free pass. In no time, the gap had grown to over seven minutes.
Vervaeke and Vine attack together for a long time, Lidl-Trek chases
The stage winner had to be found among the 47 leaders in front. Louis Vervaeke and Jay Vine launched an attack before the summit of the second climb. Initially, this was for the mountain points, but the pair decided to continue riding hard and quickly opened a gap on the chasing group.
This gap grew toward three minutes, after which Movistar lent a helping hand to Lidl-Trek in the chase. The peloton took a rest day and followed at 13 minutes, allowing Junior Lecerf to virtually jump toward the top 10 in the general classification.
A notable crash occurred in the breakaway caused by a protester crossing with a Palestinian flag. A police officer tried to prevent the protester from entering the road, but inadvertently caused the crash of Javier Romo.
All eyes on Mads Pedersen
At just over 30 kilometers from the finish, there was a steeply rising section. Pedersen’s helpers had exhausted themselves, prompting numerous attacks. Pedersen kept pace with Santiago Buitrago and Egan Bernal, after which Aular, Magnus Sheffield, Eddie Dunbar and Marco Frigo joined. They gradually closed the gap to Vine and Vervaeke. That was achieved with six kilometers to go.
The final five kilometers were ridden in a group of nine. All eyes were on Pedersen, who was able to counter a first acceleration by Bernal. The Dane also attacked himself but couldn't surprise the rest. An attack from Vine also yielded no result. Pedersen took the lead and received a free lead-out from Marco Frigo, who entered the last corner first. Sheffield crashed there but did not impede the others.
Pedersen then seized his chance to sprint for the stage win. There was no match for the Dane, who claimed his first stage victory in this Vuelta a España. Aular finished second and Frigo third in the daily classification.
Lecerf breaks into the top 10
The ‘dropped’ riders from the large break followed 23 seconds later. Among them was Junior Lecerf, who made a big jump in the general classification. Up front in the peloton, Visma | Lease a Bike controlled the pace for a long time, but Bahrain Victorious accelerated in the final phase because Lecerf posed a threat to Torstein Traeen in the overall standings. Ultimately, the peloton crossed the finish line more than 13 minutes after Pedersen.
After calculating the time differences, the conclusion was clear: Junior Lecerf rose from 13th to 9th in the GC, about six minutes behind leader Jonas Vingegaard. Outside the top 10, Ciccone and Bernal also made progress, partly closing the gap in the rankings.
photo: Cor Vos
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04:02:13 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | + 08 | |
| 9 | + 00 | |
| 10 | + 23 |
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | 57:35:33 | |
| 2 | - | + 48 | |
| 3 | - | + 02:38 | |
| 4 | - | + 03:10 | |
| 5 | - | + 03:30 | |
| 6 | - | + 04:21 | |
| 7 | - | + 04:53 | |
| 8 | - | + 05:46 | |
| 9 | - | + 05:49 | |
| 10 | - | + 06:33 |
