“I was excited” – Bernal enjoys breakaway adventure after falling out of Vuelta GC contention

Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España 2025 in Monforte de Lemos produced another furious finale, with Mads Pedersen proving the strongest once again. Among those in the fight was Egan Bernal, who placed sixth after an aggressive showing in the breakaway. The Colombian, already distanced in the overall classification, seized the opportunity to race for the stage, attacking several times in the closing kilometers. But with Pedersen, Orluis Aular and other fast men present, he could not shake the group and had to settle for a minor placing.

Bernal later reflected on the day, first acknowledging the misfortune of his teammate Magnus Sheffield, who crashed inside the final 500 meters. "He was the one who was saving the most for the sprint, I was more trying to move before, a pity, but it's part of the job," Bernal said. Sheffield, despite his fall, remounted and still crossed the line in ninth, credited with the same time as the top finishers.

For Bernal himself, it was a rare chance to animate a stage in a different way. "The truth is that I enjoyed it in a different way, not many times I'm in a breakaway and I was excited, it was cool, the truth is that the end was complicated, the end was all flat with headwind, with riders like Pedersen, it was very complicated but well, we tried until the end."

The result allowed Bernal to climb four places in the general classification, now sitting 14th, 15 minutes and 42 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard’s red jersey. While his original ambitions of a podium are out of reach, a top-ten finish remains a possibility, though it will require both consistency and perhaps some luck in the final week.

For Movistar, the day brought yet another near-miss. After Pablo Castrillo lost out to Jay Vine and Javi Romo was beaten by Juan Ayuso, Orluis Aular had to settle for second behind Pedersen. The Venezuelan was clear that the team’s persistence will not waver. "I think we have to keep trying, we are in good condition. Yesterday I raised my foot for today, we had it marked with the team. Well, we gave everything, I was always at the limit in the final part, there were many attacks but I think we are on the right track."

He acknowledged the consistency of Movistar’s efforts, while tipping his cap to Pedersen’s superior sprint. "We have been trying from the beginning, we are trying, we have been working very well during all these stages, we have been close with Pablo, with Romo, I had it marked today, I found myself with good legs, in the end Pedersen was better than us and congratulate him."

The decisive final kilometers, Aular explained, left him drained before the sprint unfolded. "At the end with 20 km to go on the open gas, on a climb of kilometers they pushed me to the limit, but I knew that I had the responsibility of the team, I had to suffer as much as possible and, well, I was able to turn it around and in the end I was happy. At the end we looked a little bit, but we knew that the favorite was Pederen, we had to follow his wheel. I think we did a great job."