Vuelta a España: Mads Pedersen interrupts UAE Team Emirates XRG's dominance; Jonas Vingegaard retains the red jersey

Just a few kilometers away, UAE Team Emirates XRG was enjoying another triumph on the Spanish roads. The ^15th stage of the Vuelta 2025, on Sunday, September 7, almost fell into the arms of the Emirati team , winners of seven stages, including three in a row, reminding us how much they dictate the pace of this edition. It was finally Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), the strongest member of the breakaway, who seized his opportunity to win, ahead of Orluis Aular (Movistar) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech). "I absolutely wanted this victory," reacted the winner, from Monforte de Lemos, in Galicia.

"The way the team worked today, with five riders in the breakaway, was incredible. It's even more beautiful to win when everyone is waiting for you. I had no choice, I had to follow everyone in the last few hundred meters," explained the 29-year-old sprinter. After two days of high-altitude battles, the favorites chose to calm down: none of them tried to shake up the hierarchy, as if their legs were crying out for a break before the next assaults.

As a result, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retains his red jersey as leader of the general classification, closely followed by Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG), 48 seconds behind, and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), 2 min 38 s behind.

From the first few kilometers, the scene was set: a massive breakaway of more than forty riders quickly broke away, quickly gaining several minutes' lead over a peloton resigned to letting it slip away. An ideal configuration to transform this ^15th stage into a hunting ground for the adventurers, including the green jersey Mads Pedersen and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), winner of the 2019 Tour de France.

Within this large group, Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) found an opening with 118 km to go, boldly breaking away to open up a gap of more than two minutes on their breakaway companions. The polka dot jersey, leader of the mountains classification, was hoping to secure a third victory in this Tour, after stages ⁶ and ¹⁰ .

But the two men were caught less than seven kilometers from the finish by seven riders, including Mads Pedersen, winner of the points classification at the 2022 Vuelta a España and the Giro d'Italia in June. The Dane, frustrated since the start of this Tour of Spain, found on this finish the opportunity to unleash his full potential. Irresistible in the sprint, the 2019 road world champion imposed himself with authority, finally securing the victory he had coveted for two weeks.

"We were really hungry today ," reacted his teammate Julien Bernard, speaking to Eurosport. "It was starting to weigh on us a little not winning. It's one of the best victories we could have. We doubted and worked a lot. We're going to take advantage of the rest day tomorrow." In the process, Mads Pedersen took his ^60th professional career victory, his fourth in the Tour of Spain.