{"id":881520,"date":"2026-09-06T00:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T00:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/881520\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T00:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T00:48:15","slug":"vuelta-a-espana-2026-stage-15-preview-distance-and-climbing-reduced-on-sunday-due-to-extreme-weather-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/881520\/","title":{"rendered":"Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a 2026 stage 15 preview – Distance and climbing reduced on Sunday due to extreme weather protocol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stage 15: Palma del R\u00edo – C\u00f3rdobaDate: September 6, 2026Distance: 110.2kmStart time: 15:00 CESTFinish time: 17:17 CESTStage details<\/p>\n

Rather than a 189.7km stage with 2,853m of climbing, stage 15 was reduced<\/a> to 110.2km on Saturday by organisers, using ‘Extreme Temperatures Protocol’ activation with extreme heat predicted Andalucia on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s stage will have the same start and finish, but will begin later, at 3:00 p.m. local time, and eliminate a northern loop around the Puente Nuevo reservoir. There will just be two categories climbs instead of three.<\/p>\n

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Starting in Palma del R\u00edo, on the Guadalquivir River, stage 15 heads towards the Sierra Morena, climbing the third-category Puerto de la Forestal and remaining on the original route for the opening 52 kilometres.<\/p>\n

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Rather than continue north to take in the categorised climb at Alto de Villaviciosa de C\u00f3rdoba, the peloton will turn east on CO-3402 towards Santa Mar\u00eda de Trassierra for a direct track to the finish.<\/p>\n

The second and final categorised climb will remain at Puerto Artafi (5.9km at 5.6% gradient), which crests with 37km to go.<\/p>\n

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Following the final haul of mountains points, the intermediate sprint hits 5km later and then 13.5 more kilometres of climbing before nearly 9km of descending for a flat 10km to the finish.<\/p>\n

C\u00f3rdoba has hosted stage finishes of the Vuelta 22 time before. The last time was two years ago when Wout van Aert powered to a sprint victory and Decathlon’s Ben O’Connor wore the red leader’s jersey.<\/p>\n

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This time Decathlon CMA CGM’s Felix Gall is hunting red, with Enric Mas (Movistar) in the lead by 2:06, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d just another four seconds back in third overall. The stage may not have the distance and climbing for rivals to carve into Mas’ lead, but Van Aert may eye another stage victory in familiar territory.<\/p>\n

Image 1 of 2<\/p>\n

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Modified map for stage 15 of 2026 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

(Image credit: La Flamme Rouge)<\/p>\n

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Modified profile of stage 15 of 2026 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/p>\n

(Image credit: La Flamme Rouge \/ ProCyclingStats)<\/p>\n

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Climbs Puerto de la Forestal (cat. 3, 6.7km at 4.1%), kilometre 34Puerto Artafi (cat. 3, 5.9km at 5.6%), kilometre 73SprintsSanta Maria de Trassiera, kilometre 78.5<\/p>\n

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You’ll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stage 15: Palma del R\u00edo – C\u00f3rdobaDate: September 6, 2026Distance: 110.2kmStart time: 15:00 CESTFinish time: 17:17 CESTStage details…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-881520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}