The eagerly awaited queen stage of the Vuelta has come to a spectacular end at an altitude of over 2500 metres. The stage was characterised for a long time by a large breakaway group, of which only Thymen Arensman was left at the end. The Dutchman from Team DSM secured the stage win in the Sierra Nevada after 152.6 kilometres.
Jumbo-Visma goes on the offensive early
Behind them, the battle for the overall classification raged. Jumbo-Visma reduced the peloton to just a few riders around 20 kilometres before the finish. Primoz Roglic, the captain of the Dutch team, was initially unable to get rid of overall leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).
Eleven kilometres before the finish Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan), Enric Mas (Movistar) caught up with the Colombian. Evenpoel then had to set the pace himself in the chasing group, but was unable to catch Lopez and Mas, on the contrary.
Roglic leaves Evenepoel standing
On the last kilometre, the man in the red jersey was distanced by Roglic and lost 15 seconds to the Slovenian. He lost 36 seconds to Mas and 34 to Lopez.
The 22-year-old goes into the third rest day on Monday with a lead of 1:34 minutes on Roglic and 2:01 minutes on Mas.
Profile & climbs: This was the 15th stage of the Vuelta
The stages of the Vuelta in detail
Unlike in the Tour de France, the leader's jersey in the Vuelta is not yellow, but red. We have summarised which other leader's jerseys and special classifications there are in the Tour of Spain in our text on the rules.
Numerous top cycling stars will be at the start of the 2022 Vuelta. TOUR has compiled an overview of the line-ups of the 23 teams.
Tour of Spain for women
In addition to the men's race, there will also be another Vuelta for women in 2022, the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. It will take place from 7 to 11 September with a total of five stages.
The first stage starts in Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria, with the final section finishing four days later in the Spanish capital Madrid.
History of the Vuelta
The men's Vuelta a Espana is back after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France the third of the three major national tours (Grand Tours), which will be held in 2022. The Tour of Spain was held for the first time in 1935 and is therefore younger than its Italian and French counterparts.
Until the 1990s, the Vuelta traditionally took place in spring. The date was then moved to August or September. There was one exception in 2020, when the Vuelta was moved to October and November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The record winner is the Spaniard Roberto Heras with four titles. Three Germans have won the race so far: Rudi Altig (1962), Rolf Wolfshohl (1965) and Jan Ullrich (1999).
