The last stage before the second rest day offers chances for the breakaway on the way to historic Córdoba.
With the rest day looming and a few rolling third-category climbs along the way, this is a classic day for GC teams to let the break go. The flat run-in to Córdoba could end in either a solo win or a group sprint.
Córdoba, with its UNESCO-listed Mosque-Cathedral, is one of the most beautiful finish towns of this Vuelta — a fitting backdrop for the last breakaway party before the brutal final week.
After the shock of Pogačar's crash, the Vuelta heads into the Andalusian mountains for its first rest day on Sunday. Week 2 holds off on a summit finish until stage 12, but then delivers a one-two punch: the Alto de Velefique followed by the climb to the Calar Alto observatory, and three days later the feared Sierra de la Pandera. Everything you need to know about stages 10 through 15.
A 45-rider breakaway swallowed much of the morning on the brutally hot run from Jaén to the Sierra de la Pandera, and it was 24-year-old German Marco Brenner (Tudor) who came out on top: after Santiago Buitrago attacked clear under the flamme rouge, Brenner clawed his way back and beat the Colombian by a single second on the flatter approach to the line, for the biggest win of his career and Tudor's first-ever Grand Tour stage win. Cristián Rodríguez completed the podium. Behind them, the real fireworks came in the group of favourites: Enric Mas and Félix Gall matched each other's moves on the steep final ramps and rode clear together of Primož Roglič and Richard Carapaz, taking 25 and 31 seconds respectively — enough for Gall to leapfrog Roglič into second overall, with Mas's lead over him unchanged at 2:06. The full story of stage 14, the GC after fourteen stages, and a look ahead to the last breakaway day before the second rest day, in Córdoba.
Extreme heat forecast at 46°C forced organisers to cut stage 15 from 189.7 to 110.2 kilometres shortly before the start, scrapping only the Villaviciosa climb. Andreas Leknessund broke clear of an early 11-man move, only for Ramses Debruyne to bridge across from the shrinking peloton and win the intermediate sprint; Wout van Aert, fourth there, refused to sit up and rode himself across to the two leaders, with Alessandro Romele and Thibau Nys following on his wheel. In Córdoba, Van Aert won the five-man sprint ahead of Romele and Nys — his second win in three days and Visma-Lease a Bike's fifth stage victory of this Vuelta. Alessandro Covi was the best of the chasers, 58 seconds back, while the peloton containing all the GC favourites, Enric Mas included, rolled in together at 2:30 — leaving the top of the standings completely unchanged. The full story of stage 15, the general classification after fifteen stages, and a look ahead to the second rest day.