Pablo Castrillo claimed his second mountain stage win in a week on the steep Cuitu Negru climb, while Primož Roglič and Enric Mas battled to a close finish in the GC group on La Vuelta Stage 15.
Stage 15 finished with the long and irregular Cuitu Negru climb (18.9 km, 7.1%), where the final 3.1 kilometers averaged a grueling 12% gradient. With Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe not fully controlling the breakaway and their rider Aleksandr Vlasov joining a strong group, the breakaway had a good chance of surviving.
Thanks to Jay Vine’s efforts in the early part of the final climb, riding fully for his UAE Emirates teammate Pavel Sivakov, their chances of winning increased significantly. After Vine was done, Sivakov continued to push, hoping to climb up the GC standings, as he was 13th and moved to 10th position after the stage. However, with Aleksandr Vlasov and Pablo Castrillo on his wheel, such a move gave him virtually no chance of winning. Since the steep section did not benefit drafting much, Vlasov did not need to wait for Roglič as a satellite rider.
Fan-favorite climber Castrillo started the steep Cuitu Negru final section with a huge acceleration. Although Vlasov later closed the gap, the Equipo Kern Pharma talent ultimately won his second La Vuelta mountain stage in a week. Vlasov and Sivakov finished ahead of the peloton. The 23-year-old Castrillo, currently without a contract, has significantly increased his market value with these performances, especially if he has not yet signed with a strong WorldTour team.
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Before the climb, Roglič changed his bike with a bigger cassette but later received a 20-second penalty for drafting behind his team car to return to the peloton. Before Cuitu Negru, Brandon McNulty had already expended 3,381 kilojoules over 3:02 min at 15.82 kj/kg/h, making the stage quite intense.
T-Rex Quick Step were pulling on the climb for Mikel Landa. Mattia Cattaneo, who has been in outstanding form over the last week, again displayed immense power. Landa accelerated with 7 km to go, but did not maintain it for long as a flatter section followed in the subsequent kilometres. When the steep part resumed, Roglič attacked and went solo but may have gone too hard, as Mas caught the Slovenian and challenged him, with both finishing together.
For the full climb, Roglič and Mas averaged 6.03 ᵉW/Kg for 44:58 min. Ben O’Connor achieved his highest aSLP score (adjusted sea level power) of 604 and lost 38 seconds to Mas despite following stronger riders and not riding at his own pace. In the last 3.1 km, Mas and Roglič averaged an impressive 6.52 ᵉW/Kg for 12:08 min at altitude. Normalized for sea level, this would be 6.95 ᵉW/Kg. Mattias Skjelmose, benefiting from colder conditions, continued to improve and finished 3rd, losing only 5 seconds to the leaders.