Vuelta a España: Jasper Philipsen wins stage 15

Image 1 of 39

Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) claimed the first Grand Tour stage victory of his career with a strong sprint on an uphill finish after 230 kilometres of racing into a headwind on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España.

By the time a heavily-reduced peloton entered the final kilometre for one final drag after accruing more than 4,000 metres of elevation gain, the rush for the line was as much about strength as it was speed.

The 22-year-old Belgian hit the front with 150 metres to go and managed to hold off Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), with Jannik Steimle (Deceuninck-QuickStep) taking third place and a gap to the rest of the fragmented field.

It was decided that timings for the general classification would be taken with 3km to go, for rider safety due to wet conditions and a large layer of oil on the road in the last kilometres, so the overall contenders didn’t have to worry about splits in the home straight. Primož Roglič  (Jumbo-Visma) retained his overall lead and the gaps at the top of the GC remained unchanged with three stages remaining.

Still, it was the sort of stage that will pile on the fatigue in the final week of the final race of the season. As if the 230km route – the longest day of any stage race this season – wasn’t enough, it had a headwind all day as the route tracked east above the Portuguese border, and the rain came down in the final couple of hours.

It was also a relentlessly undulating day with five category 3 climbs, and plenty more uncategorised inclines, and the complexion of the race fluctuated throughout. The parcours looked tailor-made for breakaway success, and when after 50km a group of 13 escapees finally went clear and gained five minutes, that looked like the logical outcome.

However, Bora-Hansgrohe and Trek-Segafredo started working in the peloton, and approaching the final climb, a catch looked inevitable. Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep) then turned the tide back the other way with a spirited solo attack onto the Alto de Padornelo, but although the 18km run-in started with a descent, the headwind did for him once the road flattened out in the final 8 kilometres.

The peloton began to fragment with 3km to go, as the GC contenders knew their times were set, and Bora hit the front before Mitchelton-Scott led out the sprint for Dion Smith in the final kilometre. Michael Mørkøv attempted to launch teammate Steimle, with Sam Bennett dropped long before, but Philipsen was the first to truly open the taps. He brushed shoulders with Ackermann as he passed the German and had the power to hold on for the biggest win of his young career.

“It's amazing. I can't describe how happy I am with this victory. It means a lot to me. I've been waiting all the Vuelta for the right moment and today this moment was unexpected,” he said.

“It was a bit hard to say but then in the end I see a lot of teams controlling. Of course there was a really strong breakaway, but with the headwind all day it made it really hard for the front group. In the end I started believing more and more, but at the beginning of the day I never expected it would be a bunch sprint. I like, a little bit, uphill finishes. This was not too hard so it normally suits me.”

How it unfolded

It was a fast and furious start to proceedings, with many sensing an opportunity for another successful breakaway. Multiple moves came and went on the largely flat opening 50km, but nothing stuck as the bunch zipped along at 43 kph into the headwind.

The first of the category 3 climbs was the Alto de San Amaro, and while it saw more moves being made, it was beyond the summit, where the road continued to rise towards the second climb of the Aldo de Carcedo, that a breakaway finally formed. In there were: Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Rob Power and Mark Donovan (Team Sunweb), Alex Aranburu and Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Nick Schultz and Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott), Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar).

Mountains classification leader Guillaume Martin (Cofidis Solutions Credits), who’d grabbed the points at San Amaro then launched a counterattack with Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Julien Simon (Total Direct Energie), making it in time to add to his king of the mountain tally at the top of the Alto de Carcedo.

Martin also took maximum points at the Alto do Furriolo after 93km, but the complexion of the race changed on the ensuing 25km plateau. The break had carved out a lead of five minutes, but Bora-Hansgrohe hit the front of the peloton and started to mount a chase.

By the Alto de Fumaces with 80km to go – where Martin added another three KOM points – the gap had been reduced to three minutes, and when Trek-Segafredo put four riders on the front, the momentum swung in favour of the peloton.

The roads dragged mercilessly uphill on uncategorised inclines, with the headwind, and now rain showers, making it a brutal afternoon. With 50km to go, the peloton continued the charge, NTT Pro Cycling helping Bora and Trek with the chase. When the gap hit two minutes with 50km to go, Wellens called it a day and drifted back to the bunch.

The gap was down to a minute 10km later, and it wasn’t long before there was no other option but to shake things up in the break. After a short descent, Donovan sparked a split when the road tilted back uphill, but it was Cattaneo who took advantage and managed to go clear solo. 

The rest of the group threatened to fragment but Stannard and Lastra were the only ones definitively dropped as the nine others reformed.

With 25km to go, Cattaneo hit the final climb of the Alto de Padornelo – 6.4km at 3.5 per cent – with a lead of a minute over his former companions, and a further 40 seconds over the bunch. Despite being alone, he still had the power to extend that lead on the wet roads of the climb. Towards the top, Gino Mäder (NTT Pro Cycling) attacked from the bunch and bridged, what was by then a slim 20-second gap between break and bunch. The young Swiss rider breezed straight past and settled into a lone pursuit of Cattaneo, 1:20 in front.

By the top of the climb, with 18km to go, Cattaneo led Mäder by 1:10, with the peloton at two minutes. However, there was a surge in pace on the false flat ahead of the descent, and with 15km to go the bunch was back to 1:30. It was downhill, but plenty of pedalling was still required, and the headwind worked against Cattaneo and Mader. With 10.5km to go, Mader was caught and Cattaneo’s lead ducked below the minute mark as Bora-Hansgrohe led what was now a heavily reduced peloton.

The road flattened out with 8km to go and that only tipped the balance further, with Cattaneo casting a resigned look over his shoulder under the 5km to go banner, by which point he had just 20 seconds in hand. The catch was made with 3.5km to go, with the bunch spread across the road.

An attack came from a Burgos-BH rider before NTT dragged it back and Bora took to the front again. Mitchelton-Scott led under the flamme rouge, with Callum Scotson leading out Dion Smith, as the bunch strung out. They took it to 300m to go, before Mørkøv hit the front, but then teammate Ivo Oliveira piloted Philipsen up on the left. The Belgian didn’t waste time and hit the wind early, with just under 200m to go, to move past Ackermann and out in front, managing to win by a bike length.