Pedersen wins from the day’s long-distance break on stage 15 and solidifies his grip on the Vuelta a España green jersey.
Mads Pedersen (Team Lidl – Trek) won stage 15 of the Vuelta a España in Monforte de Lemos (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Updated September 7, 2025 03:10PM
Mads Pedersen has tried for two weeks to win a stage at the Vuelta a España and finally succeeded on Sunday, taking stage 15 in a sprint from a nine-rider break.
Pedersen controlled things perfectly during the stage and easily beat Orluis Aular (Movistar Team), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) to the line in Monforte de Lemos.
Egan Bernan (Ineos Grenadiers) and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) also finished in the same time while Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)—who was clear with Vervaeke for over 110km—finished eight seconds back.
American rider Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) was also in the move but slid out on the final corner, losing his chance.
The riders were part of a massive 47 riders move which went early on the stage from A Veiga, and which opened up an advantage of over 14 minutes on the main peloton.
The result is just rewards for Pedersen and his Lidl-Trek team, with the Dane trying repeatedly to win. He was previously second on stage three, fifth on stage 12 and sixth on stage four. Sunday was his fifth day in a long range breakaway and it paid off, boosting his grip on the green points jersey.
He now has 237 points, a huge lead over Jonas Vingegaard’s 139.
The general classification riders held back during the stage, with all the key riders in that contest finishing together. Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) remains 48 seconds clear of João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 2:38 and 3:10 back.
Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step) did move up to ninth overall, bumping Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) down a place to tenth and 11th respectively.
Vine and Vervaeke go long
Louis Vervaeke and Jay Vine were clear for over 100km before being caught. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España had a curious profile, starting with a first category climb and then a second category ascent, but becoming progressively flatter as the kilometers ticked down.
The 167.8km stage took the riders from A Veiga to Monforte de Lemos and featured a massive early breakaway of 47 riders, with Jay Vine (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) attacking from that group with 118km to go.
They led over the Alto de Barbeitos and had 1:30 on the rest of the break with 100km to go. The bunch was almost ten minutes back there, saving energy despite Monday’s rest day.
The two leaders had 2:20 with 50km to go and raced through the intermediate sprint, with Pedersen taking third behind and adding to his points jersey lead.
Buitrago and Bernal then kicked on an uphill with 32km to go but were marked by a vigilant Pedersen, with Aular, Sheffield, Dunbar and Frigo making it a seven-man chase group.
They were just 19 seconds behind the two leaders with 12km to go, and made the junction with 6.8km left.
Everyone against Pedersen
Pedersen was in impressive form all day and ultimately came away with his fourth Vuelta stage win (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Bernal attacked as soon as the two leaders were caught but didn’t get far.
The nine riders raced in towards the finish and, following a tentative move by Dunbar, Pedersen surged with 2km to go. This acceleration was covered by the others, as was a subsequent jump by Vervaeke.
Vine tried then but tiring legs after a long day ahead meant he was unable to do much.
Pedersen led from the front heading into the final kilometer. Frigo went hard on the left but Pedersen moved across the road and led the others to up him. Sheffield slid out on the final bend and Pedersen blasted home to his 11th grand tour win.
His success was all the more impressive as everyone in the break was watching him.
“I have to say it makes the victory even sweeter. The way the team worked the whole day, five guys in the first group,” he said, referring to his teammates.
“When the two guys went away on the second KOM they were really strong and they got a lot of time. The boys were working so hard to make it possible.
“In the end, it makes it even nicer to win when everyone is looking at us, everyone knew our plan, and still we succeeded with a victory. That’s absolutely incredible.”