The 2015 Vuelta a España was the 70th edition of the race. It was the last of cycling's three Grand Tours to take place during the 2015 road cycling season. The race started in Marbella on 22 August and finished in Madrid on 13 September; three days were in Andorra, including the whole of stage 11 and the first of the race's two rest days.
All 17 UCI World Tour teams were automatically entitled to start the race. In March 2015, five UCI Professional Continental teams were awarded wildcard places in the race by the organisers, Unipublic. As each team was entitled to enter nine riders, the peloton at the beginning of the first stage consisted of 198 riders. The riders came from 37 countries; France, Spain and Italy all had 20 or more riders in the race. The startlist included all of the top four riders from the 2015 Tour de France: Chris Froome (), Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde (both ), and Vincenzo Nibali (). The riders had an average age of 29.13 years: the oldest rider to start the race was 38-year-old Haimar Zubeldia () and the youngest was 20-year-old Matej Mohorič ().
At the end of the final stage, there were 158 riders left in the race, with 40 riders failing to finish. Froome and Nibali were both among the riders who left the race before it reached Madrid: Froome abandoned the race after breaking his foot on stage 11; Nibali was disqualified after receiving illegal assistance from his team car during stage 2. The race was won by Fabio Aru (Astana). He first took the red jersey (indicating the lead of the general classification) following the mountainous stage 11. He lost it first to Joaquim Rodríguez () on the uphill finish of stage 16, then to Tom Dumoulin () in the individual time trial on stage 17. Aru was six seconds behind Dumoulin going into the penultimate stage of the race; an attack on the final climb of the Vuelta dropped Dumoulin and Aru was able to take the overall victory in the race. Rodríguez finished second, 57 seconds behind Aru, with Rafał Majka () a further 12 seconds behind in third. Valverde won the points classification and Rodríguez the combination classification. The mountains classification was won by Omar Fraile (). Movistar won the team classification.
Teams
The 17 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited to participate in the Vuelta. In addition, the race organisers, Unipublic, invited five wildcard teams. These included , the only Spanish-registered UCI Professional Continental team. Two French teams, and , also received entries. were invited for the second consecutive year after also securing their first ever entry into the Tour de France. The final team to be invited was . One prominent team that was not invited was .
UCI WorldTeams
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UCI Professional Continental teams
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Cyclists
+ Legend No. Starting number worn by the rider during the Vuelta Pos. Position in the general classification Time Deficit to the winner of the general classification Denotes the winner of the general classification Denotes the winner of the points classification Denotes the winner of the mountains classification Denotes the winner of the combination classification DNS Denotes a rider who did not start, followed by the stage before which he withdrew DNF Denotes a rider who did not finish, followed by the stage in which he withdrew DSQ Denotes a rider who was disqualified from the race, followed by the stage in which this occurred Age correct as of 22 August 2015, the date on which the Vuelta began
By starting number
No. Name Nationality Team Age Pos. Time 1 Chris Froome DNS-12 — 2 Ian Boswell 71 + 2h 36' 59" 3 Sergio Henao 22 + 44' 30" 4 Vasil Kiryienka 83 + 2h 49' 18" 5 Christian Knees 91 + 3h 00' 10" 6 Mikel Nieve 8 + 7' 06" 7 Salvatore Puccio 77 + 2h 41' 05" 8 Nicolas Roche 26 + 53' 38" 9 Geraint Thomas 69 + 2h 32' 24" 11 Domenico Pozzovivo 11 + 11' 10" 12 Gediminas Bagdonas 154 + 4h 16' 22" 13 Mikaël Cherel 51 + 1h 59' 28" 14 Alexis Gougeard 112 + 3h 30' 45" 15 Blel Kadri 150 + 4h 10' 04" 16 Sébastien Minard 96 + 3h 09' 11" 17 Matteo Montaguti 41 + 1h 47' 20" 18 Rinaldo Nocentini 85 + 2h 51' 47" 19 Johan Vansummeren 121 + 3h 39' 07" 21 Fabio Aru 1 85h 36' 13" 22 Dario Cataldo 57 + 2h 18' 30" 23 Mikel Landa 25 + 51' 30" 24 Vincenzo Nibali DSQ-2 — 25 Diego Rosa 20 + 43' 27" 26 Luis León Sánchez 33 + 1h 15' 05" 27 Paolo Tiralongo DNF-3 — 28 Alessandro Vanotti 135 + 3h 53' 40" 29 Andrey Zeits 68 + 2h 32' 07" 31 Samuel Sánchez DNF-14 — 32 Darwin Atapuma 56 + 2h 12' 42" 33 Marcus Burghardt DNS-3 — 34 Alessandro De Marchi 78 + 2h 41' 16" 35 Jempy Drucker 118 + 3h 37' 37" 36 Amaël Moinard 59 + 2h 18' 51" 37 Joey Rosskopf 124 + 3h 43' 08" 38 Tejay van Garderen DNF-8 — 39 Peter Velits DNS-18 — 41 David Arroyo 12 + 13' 29" 42 Carlos Barbero 149 + 4h 07' 22" 43 Pello Bilbao 97 + 3h 09' 51" 44 Omar Fraile 88 + 2h 57' 47" 45 José Gonçalves 34 + 1h 15' 39" 46 Ángel Madrazo 44 + 1h 52' 44" 47 Lluís Mas DNF-14 — 48 Amets Txurruka DNF-11 — 49 Ricardo Vilela 48 + 1h 55' 18" 51 Nacer Bouhanni DNF-8 — 52 Yoann Bagot 98 + 3h 12' 17" 53 Romain Hardy DNF-11 — 54 Cyril Lemoine 61 + 2h 21' 39" 55 Daniel Navarro 30 + 1h 06' 08" 56 Dominique Rollin 116 + 3h 35' 35" 57 Stéphane Rossetto DNF-19 — 58 Julien Simon 74 + 2h 39' 01" 59 Geoffrey Soupe DNS-14 — 61 Alex Cano 53 + 2h 03' 58" 62 Fabio Duarte 67 + 2h 31' 14" 63 Leonardo Duque 60 + 2h 19' 38" 64 Walter Pedraza 136 + 3h 55' 04" 65 Carlos Quintero 92 + 3h 02' 35" 66 Brayan Ramírez 127 + 3h 44' 21" 67 Miguel Ángel Rubiano 70 + 2h 36' 54" 68 Rodolfo Torres 32 + 1h 12' 17" 69 Juan Pablo Valencia 87 + 2h 56' 07" 71 Niki Terpstra DNS-18 — 72 Maxime Bouet 28 + 1h 00' 14" 73 Gianluca Brambilla 13 + 15' 26" 74 David de la Cruz DNS-6 — 75 Iljo Keisse 148 + 4h 07' 06" 76 Nikolas Maes 107 + 3h 25' 03" 77 Pieter Serry 62 + 2h 26' 30" 78 Martin Velits 117 + 3h 37' 35" 79 Carlos Verona 29 + 1h 02' 49" 81 Kenny Elissonde 16 + 17' 07" 82 Arnaud Courteille DNF-19 — 83 Mickaël Delage 109 + 3h 28' 04" 84 Murilo Fischer 156 + 4h 21' 19" 85 Olivier Le Gac 120 + 3h 38' 53" 86 Lorrenzo Manzin DNF-10 — 87 Laurent Pichon 111 + 3h 30' 07" 88 Kévin Reza 113 + 3h 31' 50" 89 Jussi Veikkanen DNF-11 — 91 Sylvain Chavanel 47 + 1h 55' 16" 92 Marcel Aregger 106 + 3h 23' 32" 93 Jérôme Coppel DNS-20 — 94 Thomas Degand DNF-9 — 95 Simon Pellaud 119 + 3h 38' 39" 96 Matteo Pelucchi DNF-2 — 97 Vicente Reynés 86 + 2h 53' 34" 98 David Tanner DNF-2 — 99 Larry Warbasse 38 + 1h 31' 24" 101 Rubén Plaza 45 + 1h 53' 41" 102 Mattia Cattaneo DNF-13 — 103 Valerio Conti 151 + 4h 11' 24" 104 Kristijan Đurasek 63 + 2h 29' 10" 105 Tsgabu Grmay 125 + 3h 43' 26" 106 Przemysław Niemiec DNF-2 — 107 Nelson Oliveira 21 + 44' 24" 108 Maximiliano Richeze 152 + 4h 13' 33" 109 Ilia Koshevoy 144 + 4h 00' 30" 111 Kris Boeckmans DNF-8 — 112 Jasper De Buyst 126 + 3h 44' 12" 113 Bart De Clercq 14 + 16' 34" 114 Thomas De Gendt DNF-14 — 115 Adam Hansen 55 + 2h 11' 06" 116 Maxime Monfort 27 + 54' 37" 117 Jurgen Van den Broeck DNS-18 — 118 Tosh Van der Sande 49 + 1h 57' 42" 119 Jelle Vanendert 82 + 2h 45' 39" 121 Alejandro Valverde 7 + 6' 47" 122 Andrey Amador 40 + 1h 37' 46" 123 Imanol Erviti 100 + 3h 13' 43" 124 Javier Moreno 80 + 2h 43' 31" 125 Nairo Quintana 4 + 1' 42" 126 José Joaquín Rojas 43 + 1h 52' 12" 127 Rory Sutherland 139 + 3h 59' 04" 128 Francisco Ventoso 81 + 2h 44' 45" 129 Giovanni Visconti 19 + 36' 19" 131 Natnael Berhane 79 + 2h 41' 24" 132 Steve Cummings 102 + 3h 17' 32" 133 Louis Meintjes 10 + 10' 26" 134 Youcef Reguigui 134 + 3h 51' 24" 135 Kristian Sbaragli 105 + 3h 19' 55" 136 Songezo Jim 137 + 3h 56' 25" 137 Jay Thomson 123 + 3h 43' 05" 138 Johann van Zyl 128 + 3h 44' 36" 139 Jaco Venter 122 + 3h 41' 39" 141 Esteban Chaves 5 + 3' 10" 142 Mitchell Docker DNF-13 — 143 Caleb Ewan DNF-10 — 144 Simon Gerrans 114 + 3h 31' 54" 145 Mathew Hayman 130 + 3h 45' 38" 146 Damien Howson 147 + 4h 05' 19" 147 Daryl Impey 84 + 2h 50' 57" 148 Jens Keukeleire 93 + 3h 03' 40" 149 Cameron Meyer DNS-18 — 151 Andrew Talansky DNS-18 — 152 André Cardoso 18 + 23' 31" 153 Joe Dombrowski 46 + 1h 53' 47" 154 Alex Howes 129 + 3h 44' 42" 155 Ben King 75 + 2h 39' 09" 156 Dan Martin DNF-8 — 157 Matej Mohorič DNF-6 — 158 Moreno Moser 72 + 2h 37' 11" 159 Davide Villella 94 + 3h 04' 39" 161 Pierre Rolland 50 + 1h 59' 10" 162 Yukiya Arashiro 65 + 2h 30' 07" 163 Jérôme Cousin 73 + 2h 38' 40" 164 Antoine Duchesne 138 + 3h 57' 37" 165 Jimmy Engoulvent 133 + 3h 51' 04" 166 Cyril Gautier 58 + 2h 18' 40" 167 Tony Hurel 145 + 4h 00' 53" 168 Fabrice Jeandesboz 17 + 17' 10" 169 Romain Sicard 15 + 16' 46" 171 John Degenkolb 90 + 2h 59' 49" 172 Lawson Craddock 42 + 1h 48' 55" 173 Koen de Kort 64 + 2h 29' 29" 174 Tom Dumoulin 6 + 3' 46" 175 Johannes Fröhlinger 143 + 4h 00' 25" 176 Thierry Hupond 142 + 3h 59' 53" 177 Luka Mezgec 108 + 3h 27' 22" 178 Tom Stamsnijder 155 + 4h 17' 57" 179 Zico Waeytens 157 + 4h 37' 10" 181 Joaquim Rodríguez 2 + 57" 182 Vladimir Isaichev DNS-11 — 183 Pavel Kochetkov 76 + 2h 39' 39" 184 Alberto Losada 31 + 1h 06' 47" 185 Tiago Machado 36 + 1h 25' 37" 186 Daniel Moreno 9 + 7' 12" 187 Gatis Smukulis 146 + 4h 01' 51" 188 Ángel Vicioso 103 + 3h 18' 33" 189 Eduard Vorganov 39 + 1h 32' 57" 191 George Bennett 37 + 1h 26' 33" 192 Martijn Keizer 153 + 4h 14' 01" 193 Bert-Jan Lindeman 99 + 3h 13' 18" 194 Timo Roosen 95 + 3h 08' 44" 195 Mike Teunissen 104 + 3h 19' 28" 196 Maarten Tjallingii DNS-19 — 197 Tom Van Asbroeck 110 + 3h 28' 33" 198 Dennis van Winden 115 + 3h 33' 46" 199 Maarten Wynants DNS-13 — 201 Rafał Majka 3 + 1' 09" 202 Daniele Bennati 131 + 3h 48' 58" 203 Maciej Bodnar 140 + 3h 59' 47" 204 Pavel Brutt 101 + 3h 14' 23" 205 Jesper Hansen 52 + 2h 01' 46" 206 Jay McCarthy 66 + 2h 31' 13" 207 Sérgio Paulinho DNF-11 — 208 Paweł Poljański 35 + 1h 16' 20" 209 Peter Sagan DNS-9 — 211 Fabian Cancellara DNF-3 — 212 Markel Irizar 89 + 2h 59' 18" 213 Yaroslav Popovych 132 + 3h 49' 11" 214 Fränk Schleck 24 + 48' 48" 215 Jasper Stuyven DNS-9 — 216 Boy van Poppel 158 + 4h 57' 31" 217 Danny van Poppel 141 + 3h 59' 51" 218 Riccardo Zoidl 54 + 2h 09' 40" 219 Haimar Zubeldia 23 + 45' 19"
By team