Stage 19 opened at pace and then settled into a familiar stalemate. Jakub Otruba jumped first, Victor Guernalec bridged, and the pair were given rope as the peloton measured its effort. Within 20 kilometres, the Frenchman sat up, deciding a two-up odyssey into a block headwind wasn’t worth the diesel. Otruba pressed on alone, the gap stretching towards four minutes while Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lotto tapped through on the front, content to keep the Czech within reach.
The landscape was sparse, the roads exposed, and the speed checked by the breeze. Otruba ground on through the vineyards and open plains, at one point sharing the roadside only with a galloping horse and rider, his advantage nudged up and down by the bunch’s mood rather than any great urgency.
Tension at Salamanca and a bonus flashpoint
The run to Salamanca sharpened elbows. With only Otruba up the road there were 17 points on the line for the peloton, but the sprint was about more than green. Team Visma | Lease a Bike took command, lined it out and led Jonas Vingegaard through to claim four bonus seconds behind the lone leader. João Almeida and UAE were out of position and reacted late, a reminder that even on a sprint stage, concentration can cost or gain seconds.
Otruba crested the line first, his reward a brief extension of his day out front. The bunch eased once more, then began to shorten the leash as the road pivoted into the windier sectors south of Salamanca.
Wind tests, crashes and Burgos on the move
With 60 kilometres remaining Lidl-Trek and Ineos rolled to the head and tried to give the crosswinds some teeth. The peloton stretched, gaps opened at the back, and a handful of riders were shelled before the direction changed and calm returned. UAE moved up after their earlier miscue, while Red Bull and Visma kept the tempo high enough to discourage freelancing.
Louis Meintjes hit the deck and was quickly back up, Giulio Ciccone punctured and chased, and the pace ebbed again. Burgos-Burpellet BH sensed a lull and sent Mario Aparicio and Sergio Chumil clear inside the final 45 kilometres, a short-lived spark that was doused as the sprint teams reassembled. Otruba’s long shift ended with just over 50 kilometres to go, the catch triggering another bout of nervous positioning before the favourites called off the crosswind games for good.
Photo Credit: GettyTrains form and the road rises to the line
The last 10 kilometres belonged to the sprint engines. Groupama-FDJ and Intermarché showed early, Ineos massed with a three-man line and, under the flamme rouge, Filippo Ganna emptied the tank on the gentle rise into Guijuelo with Ben Turner poised behind. Movistar and PicnicPost-NL rotated through, Lidl-Trek kept Mads Pedersen in the first five wheels, and all the while Alpecin-Deceuninck hovered, waiting for the snap.
At 600 metres, Alpecin moved decisively, swamping the front and dropping Jasper Philipsen into clear air on second wheel. Pedersen, starting from deeper, gambled on an early launch to exploit the gradient. He surged first. Philipsen had the cleaner lane and the higher speed. The Belgian kicked past with authority, holding his line to the tape for a third stage win of this Vuelta. Pedersen, lively all afternoon and even contesting the intermediate, clung on for second. Orluis Aular rewarded Movistar’s late organisation with third, another podium on a race where he has been consistently in the fight.
2025 Vuelta a Espana Stage 19 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
