Lidl-Trek hadn't ridden their best Vuelta a Espana thus far and after the difficulties of Giulio Ciccone, Mads Pedersen's lack of a victory had also been unusual. However, the Dane finally turned this around on stage 15, making his presence felt in the breakaway, and then covering all attacks to ride into victory in the final sprint.
The stage was known to be a day for the breakaway, with a 16-kilometer climb at the very start of the stage and no-one willing to control the breakaway of the day with so many climbs but a flat finish. Hence unsurpringly, most of the riders who made an attempt moved to the head of the race, forming a breakaway of almost 50 riders, featuring several of the stage favourites such as Mads Pedersen, Orluis Aular and Jake Stewart who would favour a sprint.
From these several dozen riders however two went clear still very far from the finish, Jay Vine and Louis Vervaeke. The group was extremely large but with no cooperation, their gap grew to 3 minutes - whilst the peloton rode calmly all day long, not chasing the breakaway with intention of fighting for the stage win. However Lidl-Trek, with five riders in front, could chase on.
A protestor caused a crash in the breakaway, and the finale was also jeopardized as once again an anti-Israel group broke through the barriers to threaten the race - however this seemed to be contained in time.
In the final small hilltop of the stage there were attacks and here a new group in front was formed with Egan Bernal, Santiago Buitrago, Eddie Dunbar, Magnus Sheffield... But also the two strongest sprinters in Pedersen and Aular. However without any other climb to tackle in the last 25 kilometers, the group had no choice but to collaborate to catch the front duo, which happened with 6 kilometers to go. Egan Bernal quickly launched the first attack, opening a tactical battle for the win.
There were several attacks, including Pedersen himself who didn't want to take the race into a sprint. Marco Frigo launched a late attack trying to surprise, but the Dane followed him and then in the final sprint took the victory in Monforte de Lemos. Orluis Aular rode to second whilst Frigo was third.
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Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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