Photo Credit: Unipublic / Charly Lopez
The 2025 road racing season continues with the 80th edition of La Vuelta.
First Stage: August 23rd
Final Stage: September 14th
We're 10 stages into this years La Vuelta and it's been a good one. While Jonas Vingegaard has made it back to the Red Jersey several times, it hasn't be easy. Riders like Torstein Traeen and David Gaudu have made him work for it. At the end of Stage 10 Jonas has snuck his way back into 1st GC rider, but the top 4 riders are separated by a mere 58 seconds with one of our favorites, Tom Pidcock currently in 4th.
Noteworthy:
- Jonas Vingegaard won stage 2 in a nail-biter finish even after a mass crash with just 26km to go. This finish put him into the Red Jersey for the first time and was his first stage win in over a year.
- Juan Ayuso's Stage 7 victory was soon followed by UAE-Team Emirates announcing they would be parting ways with the young rider 3 years before his contract was set to expire. The departure is described as a mutual disagreement of vision.
- In Stage 5, the Team Time Trial stage, protesters blocked the course for Isreal - Premier Tech.
Photo Credit: Unipublic / Charly Lopez
Top 5 GC Riders at the end of Stage 10:
1 - Jonas Vingegaard / Team Visma - Lease A Bike
2 - Torstein Traeen / Bahrain Victorious (+ :26)
3 - Joao Almeida / UAE Team Emirates XRG/UAE (+ :38)
4 - Tom Pidcock / Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (+ :58)
5 - Felix Gall / Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team (+2:03)
Top 5 Teams at the end of Stage 10:
1 - UAE Team Emirates XRG (Riding Colnago)
2 - Team Visma - Lease A Bike (+ 7:03) (Riding Cervelo)
3 - XDS Astana Team (+ 16:23) (Riding X-Lab)
4 - Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team (+ 33:59) (Riding Van Rysel)
5 - Soudal Quick-Step (+ 37:22) (Riding Specialized)
Rankings at the end of Stage 10:
RED Jersey (GC Leader)
Jonas Vingegaard / Team Visma - Lease A Bike
GREEN Jersey (Points Leader)
Mads Pederson / Lidl - Trek
POLKA DOT Jersey (Climbing Leader)
Jay Vine / UAE Team Emirates XRG
WHITE Jersey (Youth Leader)
Giulio Pellizzari / Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe
La Vuelta is a 21 stage tour throughout Northern Spain covering 3151 km broken down as such:
- 4 Flat Stages (1 with a high altitude finish)
- 6 Medium Mountain Stages
- 6 Mountain Stages
- 1 Individual TT Stage
- 1 Team TT Stage
- 3 Hilly Stages with high altitude finales
- 2 Rest Days (After stage 9 and 15)
The course this year has a staggering 10 summit finishes (8 of those being category 1).
Photo Credit: Unipublic / Charly Lopez
Jerseys/Achievements:
Similar to races like TdF, La Vuelta has multiple jerseys and titles individual riders and teams can achieve:
Red Jersey:
The Red Jersey is given to the rider with the current fastest accumulative time throughout the race.
Green Jersey:
The Green Jersey is given to the best sprinter in the tour. Points are awarded to the top 15 riders of each stage as well as intermediate sprints.
Polka Dot Jersey:
The Polka Dot Jersey is given to the best climber. Points are awarded at the top of category climbs with double points awarded at summit finishes.
White Jersey:
The White Jersey is given to the youngest (under 26) rider performing the best in the General Classification.
Team:
Team standings are calculated by combining team riders times together.
Combative:
The Combativity award recognizes the most aggressive and attacking rider both is each stage and the overall race. While all other jerseys and awards are cut and dry as to how they're achieved, the combative award is selected by a jury is responsible for selecting this award at each stage and the overall race.
Photo Credit: Unipublic / Charly Lopez
