The final mountain showdown packed five climbs into 165.6 km from Robledo de Chavela and never really eased. Before the flag even dropped there was a brief neutralisation after a crash and a Bahrain Victorious mechanical, then, once released, Ineos lit the fuse. Filippo Ganna surged, Egan Bernal countered, Brandon Rivera tried again with Giulio Ciccone for company, but nothing stuck as the race hit the Alto de la Escondida. There, Santiago Buitrago went solo, only to be joined, then replaced, by a revolving cast: Orluis Aular, Mauri Vansevenant, Mikel Landa, Eddie Dunbar and Ciccone all featured as the elastic stretched.
UAE Team Emirates kept the leash tight, riding a controlled tempo with João Almeida flanked by Jay Vine, Marc Soler and Felix Großschartner. Over the Puerto de la Paradilla the day’s real move finally breathed, swelling to roughly 30 riders. Lidl-Trek loaded the break with Pedersen, Ciccone, Carlos Verona and Julien Bernard to give their climber options. Joel Nicolau crested the Alto del León first while the peloton hovered at 1 minute 20 seconds, Red Bull and UAE sharing the chase.
Photo Credit: GettyOn the first ascent of the Navacerrada the break started to creak. The selection thinned to a dozen and then fractured on the descent when Ciccone, Landa, Bernal, Bruno Armirail and Jardi van der Lee eased clear. Protest-related disruption near Cercedilla almost derailed the run-in, but the quintet and the reduced red jersey group threaded through the chaos under escort and the race pressed on.
Landa attacked from the lead group as the road tipped up towards La Bola del Mundo. Bernal and Ciccone clawed back, only for Ciccone to kick again at 11 km to go, dropping both. Landa, stubborn as ever, ground his way back and the pair began a fragile alliance on the lower concrete ramps. Behind, UAE raised the pace. The red jersey group, now a who’s who of the GC, shrank to Vingegaard with Ben Tulett and Sepp Kuss, Almeida with Vine, Pidcock with Damien Howson, Jai Hindley, Matthew Riccitello, Torstein Træen, Finlay Pickering and William Junior Lecerf. Best young rider Giulio Pellizzari and Felix Gall slid out the back as the gradient and surface bit.
With 5 km remaining Ciccone and Landa had 25 seconds. That was the end of their adventure. The favourites swept them up just before the infamous final 3 km, where the narrow concrete pitches beyond 17 per cent turn rhythm into survival. Almeida took over, riding a metronome tempo that prised open the group and snuffed the last embers of the break. Hindley attacked at 2.2 km to go. Pidcock grimaced, Riccitello clawed, Vingegaard measured.
Photo Credit: GettyAt 1.5 km, where the ramp spikes again, Vingegaard moved up, watched, then pounced 400 metres later. He slipped past Hindley, snapped the elastic immediately and rode the final kilometre alone, picking a clean line on the rough slabs, one glance back under the kite, then head down to the masts. Kuss, marking and smothering behind, surged late to steal second on the stage two seconds ahead of Hindley. Pidcock, five seconds further back, limited the damage to keep his grip on the podium. Almeida came in at 22 seconds, his earlier effort spent, with Riccitello two seconds behind after a poised ride inside the favourites.
It was a ruthless, perfectly timed strike for Vingegaard, his third stage win of this Vuelta, forged on a day that had promised ambushes from kilometre zero and delivered them in waves. UAE made the race hard, Lidl-Trek animated the early mountains, Landa and Ciccone took their shot, but La Bola del Mundo demanded more. On the steep, rough concrete, the Dane found exactly that.
2025 Vuelta a Espana Stage 20 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
