La Vuelta 2021 – Stage 15 [LAST 10 KM]

August 29, 2021

La Vuelta 2021 – Stage 15 – Navalmoral de la Mata – El Barraco : 197,5 km

As the final Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España is seen by many as a last chance saloon for those riders who have failed to hit their seasonal objectives. In reality the race is much more than that, often surpassing the other two three-week races in terms of action and edge-of-your-seat entertainment. This is a race with the steepest summit finishes in professional cycling, the anything-can-happen transitional stages, the unlikeliest breakaway victories and the most fiercely fought GC battles seen anywhere on the racing calendar. If you ever thought the Vuelta was inferior, think again. This year’s route is typical of La Vuelta, with mountainous stages in the Spanish Pyrenees and rugged Basque Country peppered throughout the race. Can the defending champion, take a third successive title and score a historic hattrick? Or will we see a new victor emerge?

Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates) won stage 15 of the Vuelta a España with a perfectly executed and emotional solo breakaway on the 197.5km road to El Barraco, near the centre of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Polish riders went away alone on the Puerto de Pedro Bernardo and never looked back for the final 87km, holding off a chase by Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), who finished 1:27 behind, with Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) third at 2:19.

There was little action amongst the overall contenders as they let the break dominate the racing yet again. Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked on the last climb and gained 15 seconds on race leader Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) but the Norwegian kept the leader’s red jersey for the second rest day thanks to more solid teamwork from his teammates.

Eiking leads Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) by 54 seconds, with Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) third and waiting in the wings at 1:36.

It was Majka’s first victory for four years, his last coming on stage 14 of the 2017 Vuelta a España. However he had special motivation today and pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line, remembering his recently deceased father.

“I only thought of one thing,” he said. “I had a bad start to the season and it wasn’t easy for me and my family, especially when my father died. I wanted to win for him, for my kids and for my great team UAE Team Emirates.

“Sometimes you try and it’s not easy to to get in break. But today I tried from the start. I didn’t wait for nobody today, I wanted to win the stage.”

How it unfolded

Another day at the Vuelta a España and another hard mountain stage, this time over 197.5km from Navalmoral de la Mata to El Barraco, the birthplace of 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre.

After Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) quit during Saturday’s stage, fellow Ecuadorian riders Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-Nippo) and Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) also headed home.

The riders will enjoy the second rest day on Monday, but there was no sign of fatigue in the first hour of the stage as riders fought to go in the early break, knowing there was a chance of survival and so stage victory.

The first climb of the stage, the Alto de la Centenera, came after 85km and so there was plenty of terrain for attacks. Saturday’s stage winner Romain Bardet (Team DSM) was one of the first to try, as did fellow winners Michael Storer and Magnus Cort Neilson. They have won five stages between them but this time other riders wanted a say too.

There were 25 riders who eventually got away from the peloton after some 30km of hectic racing. They got a 30-second gap but UAE Team Emirates lead the chase and closed them down with 130km to race.

The climbers began to show their hand and gaps opened on the Alto de la Centenera climb, with Majka going on the attack to make sense of UAE Team Emirates’ work. He was joined by Fabio Aru (Qhubeka NextHash) and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Soudal) as a bigger chase group formed behind them. The group included Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R-Citroën), Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Carlos Verona (Movistar Team), Michael Storer (Team DSM), Steff Cras (Lotto Soudal), Lucas Hamilton (Team BikeExchange), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) and Guanluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo), all talented stage hunters.

The peloton, lead by Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, began to lose interest and time, convinced that Odd Christian Eiking’s race lead was safe.

Majka used his climbing ability and experience to pace his effort and distance first Van Gils and then Aru on the mid-stage Puerto de Pedro Bernardo. The finish was 87km but he was on a personal mission.

The Polish rider swept up mountain points and dived down the descent to the foot of the 20.4km Puerto de Mijares climb. It was a constant climb to 1568 metres and Majka rode it calmly and collected as those behind him exploded.

Kruijswijk emerged as the best of the rest and set off in a lone pursuit of Majka as the road climbed up the mountain. He is arguably the better climber but Majka refused to recognise that and pushed on, holding off the Dutchman in a mountain pursuit match.

Kruijswijk reduced his 2:10 gap down to 1:35 near the summit but failed to catch Majka before the summit. That was to be his demise and torture for their ride to the finish.

Majka kept his cool and rode to the final climb, even extending his lead on Kruijswijk. He then savoured his moment, reached the top of the Puerto San Juan di Nava with ease and rode to collect his victory.

The overall contenders had managed to reduce the gap on the Puerto de Mijares and so swept up most of the riders from the breakaway. Yates responded to several attacks on the Puerto San Juan di Nava to provoc the peloton and charged clear alone. However the others were only a few seconds behind him and he failed to move up from eighth overall at 4:39.

As the riders transferred north 500 kilometres for Monday’s second rest day, the overall classification remained unchanged but the biggest and hardest mountain stages to come in the Asturias.

Results :
1 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 04:51:36
2 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 00:01:27
3 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM 00:02:19
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 00:02:42
5 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 00:02:57
6 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
7 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
9 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
10 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
11 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team
12 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
13 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
14 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma
15 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
16 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
17 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
18 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
19 Sam Oomen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 00:03:03
20 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis
21 Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Qhubeka NextHash 00:03:23
22 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
23 Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNS Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education-Nippo
DNF Jhonatan Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo

General Classification after Stage 15 :
1 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 59:57:50
2 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:00:54
3 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 00:01:36
4 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 00:02:11
5 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team 00:03:04
6 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 00:03:35
7 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 00:04:21
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 00:04:34
9 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 00:04:59
10 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:05:31
11 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 00:06:04
12 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 00:06:16
13 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 00:06:47
14 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:07:07
15 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 00:07:11
16 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 00:11:08
17 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 00:14:46
18 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 00:26:20
19 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis 00:26:35
20 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:28:21
21 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team 00:31:12
22 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 00:37:04
23 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 00:38:47
24 Sam Oomen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 00:39:52
25 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal 00:41:42
26 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 00:44:38
27 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 00:46:55
28 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH 00:48:28
29 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 00:48:43
30 Sergio Henao Montoya (Col) Qhubeka NextHash 00:48:44
31 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM 00:49:02
32 Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 00:49:26
33 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 00:52:48
34 Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 00:55:23
35 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM 00:56:30
36 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 00:57:44
37 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Team BikeExchange 00:57:54
38 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 00:59:35
39 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Burgos-BH 01:03:38
40 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 01:04:45
41 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 01:05:10
42 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 01:09:45
43 Fabio Aru (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 01:10:07
44 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 01:10:11
45 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers 01:11:04
46 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 01:11:08
47 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers 01:11:10
48 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 01:16:00
49 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Team BikeExchange 01:17:07
50 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Education-Nippo 01:19:54
51 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 01:22:31
52 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 01:23:06
53 Mikaël Cherel (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 01:24:37
54 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange 01:25:09
55 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM 01:25:32
56 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
57 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 01:26:05
58 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 01:29:09
59 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates 01:33:52
60 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 01:36:57
61 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 01:38:27
62 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious 01:40:45
63 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 01:41:18
64 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 01:43:06
65 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 01:50:39
66 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 01:52:20
67 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 01:52:31
68 Robert Gesink (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 01:52:47
69 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 01:53:52
70 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal 01:53:57
71 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Team BikeExchange 01:54:36
72 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 01:54:49
73 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 01:55:42
74 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 01:56:33
75 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 01:56:41
76 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 01:56:53
77 Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-Nippo 01:57:36
78 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM 01:57:59
79 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 01:58:15
80 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 01:58:22
81 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo 01:59:11
82 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 01:59:12
83 Diego Camargo Pineda (Col) EF Education-Nippo 01:59:18
84 Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Lotto Soudal 02:00:25
85 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 02:03:01
86 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 02:04:26
87 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 02:05:03
88 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 02:05:59
89 Stan Dewulf (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 02:06:53
90 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange 02:07:51
91 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 02:07:58
92 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM 02:07:59
93 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 02:08:11
94 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 02:09:33
95 Aritz Bagües Kalparsoro (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 02:11:29
96 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 02:12:12
97 Fernando Barceló Aragon (Spa) Cofidis 02:12:16
98 Damien Howson (Aus) Team BikeExchange 02:12:38
99 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 02:12:40
100 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 02:14:05
101 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 02:14:10
102 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 02:15:48
103 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 02:17:50
104 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 02:18:37
105 Oier Lazkano Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 02:23:18
106 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 02:24:36
107 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal 02:24:42
108 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 02:25:38
109 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team BikeExchange 02:26:06
110 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
111 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 02:27:24
112 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 02:27:49
113 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 02:28:07
114 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH 02:28:30
115 Sander Armée (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash 02:29:38
116 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 02:30:44
117 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal 02:31:18
118 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH 02:31:41
119 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 02:32:53
120 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 02:33:07
121 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis 02:33:08
122 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 02:33:40
123 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 02:36:51
124 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 02:37:37
125 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 02:38:22
126 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal 02:38:45
127 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 02:43:24
128 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 02:43:29
129 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain Victorious 02:43:31
130 Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 02:43:50
131 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 02:45:15
132 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 02:45:56
133 Robert Stannard (Aus) Team BikeExchange 02:46:00
134 Anton Palzer (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 02:46:51
135 Chad Haga (USA) Team DSM 02:47:43
136 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 02:50:27
137 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH 02:51:58
138 Nico Denz (Ger) Team DSM 02:52:24
139 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 02:52:52
140 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis 02:53:41
141 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash 02:54:05
142 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 02:55:15
143 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Qhubeka NextHash 02:55:26
144 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 02:56:00
145 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 02:56:04
146 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 02:56:09
147 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 03:04:25
148 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-Nippo 03:05:13
149 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation 03:06:31
150 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 03:07:53
151 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 03:09:16
152 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 03:10:04
153 Connor Brown (NZl) Qhubeka NextHash 03:10:43
154 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo 03:11:53
155 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM 03:12:15
156 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 03:14:21
157 Jordi Meeus (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe 03:17:20
158 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 03:21:00
159 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe 03:21:14
160 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 03:23:39
161 Josef Cerny (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 03:26:16