The 2025 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in Italy, France, Andorra and Spain. It was the 80th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final grand tour of the 2025 men's road cycling season. It started on 23 August in Turin and finished on 14 September in Madrid.
Classification standings Legend Denotes the leader of the general classification Denotes the leader of the young rider classification Denotes the leader of the points classification Denotes the leader of the team classification Denotes the leader of the mountains classification Denotes the winner of the combativity award
Stage 12 4 September 2025 – Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna,
After an eventful stage in Bilbao, the riders tackled a parcours that was tailor-made for a breakaway battle. There were two categorized climbs on the menu - the second-category Puerto de Alisas (8.6 km at 5.8%) and the first-category Collada de Brenes (7 km at 7.9%). The latter climb featured gradients of over 15% and topped with just left on the stage.
It took more than before a large group of riders went up the road. More riders gradually bridged to the front group before 53 riders emerged up front as the dust settled. With Bruno Armirail (), who was eight and a half minutes down on Jonas Vingegaard (), being the only threat up front, the break was allowed to establish a lead enough to fight for the stage win. As the riders passed through the intermediate sprint with just over to go, Mads Pedersen () took maximum points to extend his advantage at the top of the points classification. Before the break reached the foot of Collada de Brenes, a group of six composed of Magnus Sheffield (), Michel Hessmann (), James Shaw (), Finlay Pickering (), Brieuc Rolland (), and Victor Guernalec () split off the front of the break. They built a gap of 40 seconds as they approached the foot of Collada de Brenes.
On the climb, Marc Soler () set a hard pace in the chasing group, setting up an attack for his teammate, Juan Ayuso, which brought back the front group in the process. Ayuso was initially solo up front but Javier Romo () soon caught up to him. The front duo hit the top of the climb with a lead of around 20 seconds on Rolland while the remnants of the break were almost 50 seconds behind. Ayuso and Romo managed to prevent Rolland from coming back, keeping him at just under 20 seconds back. In the sprint for the win, Ayuso held off Romo to win his second stage of the race. Rolland barely held off the rest of the chasing group to finish third. Pedersen finished fifth to further add to his lead in the points classification. The peloton rolled across the line at more than six minutes down. The only change at the top of the was Armirail jumping up to sixth after he finished with the main breakaway group.
Stage 13 5 September 2025 – Cabezón de la Sal to L'Angliru,
The race headed back to the mountains on the thirteenth stage with the riders tackling the famous climb of Alto de L’Angliru (12.4 km at 9.7%). The first were mostly flat before the riders climbed up the first-category climbs of Alto La Mozqueta (6.3 km at 8.4%) and Alto del Cordal (5.5 km at 8.8%). Off the descent of Alto del Cordal, the riders immediately reached the foot of Alto de L’Angliru. The first of the climb averaged around 7% before ramping up and averaging more than 13% for the next . The final few hundred meters of the stage was on a short descent to the line.
A few kilometres from the start of the stage, a group of 24 riders managed to escape from the peloton. There were no threats in the break as Gianmarco Garofoli () was the closest rider at more than 35 minutes down. Among those also involved in the break were Pedersen and Ethan Vernon (), the top two in the points classification who were aiming to get points at the intermediate sprint. Four chasers also tried to join the break but among those four, only Ivo Oliveira () managed to bridge to the front. The 25-man group only got a gap of around three minutes as was controlling for the stage. As the break made their way to the top of Alto La Mozqueta, only five riders remained up front - Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (), Bob Jungels (), Antonio Tiberi (), Nicolas Vinokurov (), and Garofoli. On the descent, Pedersen was able to catch back up to the front group. Shortly afterwards, Tiberi suffered a puncture, dropping him to the chase group at half a minute down.
At the intermediate sprint just before Alto del Cordal, Pedersen took maximum points, extending his lead to 81 points over Vernon. On the climb, Jungels, Cepeda, and Vinokourov pushed on from the front, extending their gap on the chase group. Tiberi tried to pursue the front trio but he was unable to do so, with his chase effectively ending when he crashed on the descent of the Cordal. At the bottom of the Angliru, the front group was blocked by protesters, costing them around half a minute. Behind them, lifted the pace from the Alto del Cordal, gradually closing the gap to the leaders. On the steep section of the Angliru, the red jersey group was down to just João Almeida (), Jai Hindley (), Sepp Kuss (), and Vingegaard, with Almeida doing the pacemaking. After catching the breakaway, Almeida kept pacing to the top, dropping Hindley and Kuss in the process. Vingegaard was unable to attack Almeida as the battle for the stage headed to a sprint. Almeida held off Vingegaard to win the stage, marking his team’s sixth win in this race. Hindley and Kuss finished around half a minute down while the rest of the contenders lost around one to two minutes.
In the , Vingegaard’s lead was reduced to 46 seconds on Almeida with the latter’s stage win. Tom Pidcock () kept third at more than two minutes down while Hindley moved up to fourth at exactly three minutes behind. Felix Gall () is the only rider within four minutes of Vingegaard, sitting just 15 seconds behind Hindley.
Stage 14 6 September 2025 – Avilés to Alto de La Farrapona,
The riders tackled another summit finish on the fourteenth stage as the riders finished atop La Farrapona (16.9 km at 5.9%). After of lumpy terrain, the riders climbed up the third-category L’Alto Tenebreo (5.8 km at 6.5%) and the first-category Puerto de San Lorenzo (10.1 km at 8.5%) as the precursors to the final climb. The climb to La Farrapona was irregular for the first before averaging almost 9% in the final .
As soon as the flag dropped, multiple riders attempted to go into the break until a group of 22 riders eventually established the break of the day. was content to give the break six minutes as the closest rider on in the break was Armirail at 12 minutes down. Two more riders eventually bridged to the front to make it a 24-rider break. On the Puerto de San Lorenzo, the break began to whittle down to just 11 riders while behind them, began to increase the pace in the peloton. Egan Bernal () and Giulio Ciccone () were dropped by the pace, causing them to lose more than 21 minutes at the end of the day. At the top of the climb, around less than 20 riders were left in the group while the break’s lead was down to three and a half minutes.
With left, Marc Soler () attacked from the break, bringing only Johannes Staune-Mittet () with him. A few kilometres later, Soler put in a second acceleration, dropping Staune-Mittet and gradually extending his lead on the rest of the break. His lead over the peloton was still over three minutes at the foot of the final climb to La Farrapona. The peloton gradually closed in on Soler but he had more than enough time to hold on and win the stage, the team’s seventh victory in this Vuelta. In the peloton, continued to set the pace until took over with Giulio Pellizzari. However, due to the headwind, there were no attacks until the final kilometre when Hindley made his move. Only Almeida and Vingegaard were able to follow his move. All the remaining members of the break apart from Soler were swallowed up, which meant that the bonus seconds for second and third were still in play. Vingegaard barely beat Almeida for second while Hindley was gapped by four seconds. The rest of the main contenders lost minimal time and only lost no more than 14 seconds. In the , Vingegaard extended his lead to 48 seconds over Almeida by virtue of the difference in bonus seconds between second and third on the stage. Hindley moved to within 32 seconds of Pidcock’s third place.
Stage 15 7 September 2025 – Vegadeo to Monforte de Lemos,
The last stage before the second rest day featured a hilly parcours that was expected to suit the breakaway. The first of the stage had two categorized climbs - the first-category Puerto A Garganta (16.5 km at 5.1%) and the second-category Alto de Barbeitos (11.9 km at 3.9%). After going over the top of the latter climb, the rest of the stage was quite lumpy but the finish in Monforte de Lemos was flat.
At the start of the stage, Jakub Otruba () was initially alone at the front heading to the first climb, the Puerto A Garganta, but he was soon joined by Jay Vine (), who was aiming to get points for the mountains classification. After Vine took maximum points at the top of the climb, the break ballooned to 47 riders in front, including Pedersen and four of his teammates. As Junior Lecerf () was the closest threat in the break at over 18 minutes down, the peloton let the break go and allowed them to fight for the stage win. Before the break reached the top of the second climb, the Alto de Barbeitos, Vine and Louis Vervaeke () attacked with the former taking maximum points to further add to his lead in the mountains classification. The front duo gradually extended their lead to around three minutes over the rest of the break, which was being paced by Pedersen’s teammates.
At from the finish, a protester interfered with the break, causing Romo to crash. Romo was eventually able to come back to the chase group. With around to go, with the front group’s lead down to around a minute, a seven-man chase group composed of Magnus Sheffield (), Eddie Dunbar (), Santiago Buitrago (), Orluis Aular (), Marco Frigo (), Pedersen, and Bernal attacked from the original chase group. They gradually closed in on Vine and Vervaeke, catching them with left. There were multiple attacks in the front group but the win came down to a group sprint. Inside the final kilometre, Sheffield went down on a corner before Frigo went on a flyer with to go. Pedersen quickly went to his wheel, using Frigo as a leadout before launching his sprint. The Dane won the sprint over Aular, taking a total of 45 points to consolidate his lead in the points classification. The peloton rolled over across the line at more than 13 minutes down, which meant that Lecerf jumped up to ninth on .
Rest day 2 8 September 2025 – Pontevedra
Stage 16 9 September 2025 – Poio to Mos (),
Following the last race day, the sixteenth stage was a hilly stage that was expected to suit the breakaway again. The first was ridden on rolling terrain before the riders climbed up four categorized climbs - the third-category Alto de San Antoñino (9 km at 4%), the first-category Alto de Groba (11.3 km at 5.4%), the second-category Alto de Prado (4.3 km at 8.9%), and the second-category climb to the finish in Castro de Herville (8.2 km at 5.2%). The final climb averaged more than 10% for the first before easing to a short descent and averaging around 4.5% for the final .