Vuelta a España Vuelta 2025, stage 20: Robledo de Chavela - Bola del Mundo - Puerto de Navacerrada (164.8 km)

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KZD

KZD

Feb 21, 2019
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Glad that despite taking a shortcut we could have a stage finishing on Bola del Mundo

Vingegaard sealing the Vuelta with a win in an iconic finish. Even though he didn't look at his best he showed that he was the strongest rider in the race and it should give him more motivation for next season. Good to see Kuss bouncing back strongly, the Spanish climbs really season to uit him better than any others.

Almeida has every reason to be proud, he achieved his best GT result ever and showed that he can win a GT in the future, hopefully he returns to the Giro in 2026, that will always be a special race for him.

Pidcock with his breakthrough and getting a GT podium. I didn't expect this result and I definitely think that the route suited him very well but he finally showed that he contend in a GT so I hope he keeps on this path.

Good Vuelta for the Red Bull duo, Hindley and Pellizzari despite the Italian losing the white jersey today which I blame on his heavy schedule.

Riccitello also with a great performance, especially today taking the white jersey away from Pellizzari and securing the top5.

A word for Træen getting into a GT top10 for the first time in his career.
 
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Cookster15

Cookster15

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May 14, 2011
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What a monster climb in the last 3km that was - over 2,000 metres, 10-20% gradients and even unpaved. Hate to be a sprinter - grupetto came in at 36 minutes!

Congrats to Jonas Vingegaard. Obviously he won the Vuelta today. Not flashy but got the job done. Watched the final 3km, he looked like he was at his limits, constantly looking behind after jumping away in the last km or so. The always tenacious Almeida's elastic finally snapped and he couldn't hang on.

Also congrats to Tom Pidcock for holding onto his podium spot with another tenacious ride. He has impressed me - take that Ineos!

Jai Hindley couldn't claw back a podium spot but was still very impressive driving the lead group in the super steep and unpaved final 3 km. Nice to see the 2022 Giro winning Hindley back.

I know this Vuelta wasn't great for more than one reason but I still enjoyed following it. Relieved that today wasn't spoiled by non cycling matters.
 
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H

HashRouge

Apr 21, 2025
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Cookster15 said:
What a monster climb in the last 3km that was - over 2,000 metres, 10-20% gradients and even unpaved. Hate to be a sprinter - grupetto came in at 36 minutes!

Congrats to Jonas Vingegaard. Obviously he won the Vuelta today. Not flashy but got the job done. Watched the final 3km, he looked like he was at his limits, constantly looking behind after jumping away in the last km or so. The always tenacious Almeida's elastic finally snapped and he couldn't hang on.

Also congrats to Tom Pidcock for holding onto his podium spot with another tenacious ride. He has impressed me - take that Ineos.

Jai Hindley couldn't claw back a podium spot but was still very impressive driving the lead group in the super steep and unpaved final 3 km. Nice to see the 2022 Giro winning Hindley back.

I know this Vuelta wasn't great for more than one reason but I still enjoyed following it. Relieved that today wasn't spoiled by non cycling matters.
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I'd have loved to see the grupetto tackling that final climb, such a shame that we never get to see it!
 
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O

Oldman

Jun 19, 2009
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Red Rick said:
On the steep section of the Bola, Vingegaard was 5 seconds faster than Purito 13 years ago
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Check the video on the switchback before he attacked; he's got a nice tailwind and once he got the gap the other lead group riders eventually stabilized the difference until they began posturing for places knowing they couldn't close.
Great ride by the Dane and tactically savvy. Maybe he picked that flatish attack location knowing how bad the headwind affected everyone in the last km on stage 18's uphill finish. Pellizarri did the same sort of tailwind attack and held the gap to the finish on that stage, too.
Those guys were definitely not holding back the last 5km today; which is practically impossible on those grades without completely locking up. That road surface was cruel, so so cruel. Those stages are what make the Vuelta stand out as an unpredictable and exciting race.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Oldman said:
Check the video on the switchback before he attacked; he's got a nice tailwind and once he got the gap the other lead group riders eventually stabilized the difference until they began posturing for places knowing they couldn't close.
Great ride by the Dane and tactically savvy. Maybe they picked that knowing how bad the headwind affected everyone in the last km on stage 18's uphill finish. Pellizarri did the same sort of tailwind attack and held the gap to the finish, too.
Those guys were definitely not holding back the last 5km today; which is practically impossible on those grades without completely locking up. That road surface was cruel, so so cruel.
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Tailwind today too, that's pretty common I think.

Mostly they raced much harder overall today, and I think with the combination of bad road surface and high gradients it's much harder to transfer power which is why riders sometimes struggle to make big gaps.
 
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Oldman

Jun 19, 2009
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Red Rick said:
Tailwind today too, that's pretty common I think.

Mostly they raced much harder overall today, and I think with the combination of bad road surface and high gradients it's much harder to transfer power which is why riders sometimes struggle to make big gaps.
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Totally true on the steep climb. The lower climbs had spectacular pavement.
Jonas moved just into that corner that had a nice, flatish launch section to get him going. He caught everyone still seated and unprepared; the sort of thing Roglic could do on this type of climb. Very well done IMO.
 
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Sciatic

Mar 4, 2011
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HashRouge said:
I'd have loved to see the grupetto tackling that final climb, such a shame that we never get to see it!
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I always wish viewers could select a specific camera view on mountain stages like this, so I could watch just the finish line cam see most of the peloton crossing the line. I was roadside for the mountaintop finish climb of the 2024 TdF Cauterets stage. And while it was thrilling to have (because the stage had already exploded on Tourmelet) Vingegaard and Pog together as the 1st riders to come into view, I also appreciated getting to see all peloton pass by in groups of 2 or 3 for the 35-40 minutes after that. I realized it was a part of the race we never see on broadcasts.
 
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dazaau

May 1, 2021
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KoopaCycling said:
I see Pidcock and his followers believing. I have decided to support that hope. Meaning i will try to refrain from posting negative comments about Pidcock his GC potential as much as possible. Even if i do not believe in him. Not even a little bit. Not even at all.
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I had zero belief but chapeau to him. He has proved he has more than GC potential. 3rd in this company is actually very impressive. I'm disappointed Hindley couldn't grab 3rd but he threw everything at it and Pidcock just would not lie down. Respect.

In other news I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw vine reappear from nowhere to claim the minor points to take the polka dot at the finish 😂

I'm also just happy the stage wasn't taken from us, it was so close, watching that close call with the protestors was wild. Thankfully they chose the worst location humanly possible and the peloton was able to squeak past 😮
 
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gunara

gunara

Dec 6, 2012
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With all the chaos, it's not very easy to rate this edition, but it's not even close to the worst GT I've followed entirely. There have been some horribly boring Giri and Tours. This one had some intriguing, albeit insignificant, moments. Worst Vuelta...maybe...can't say I remember all of them (Roglic' years are a bit blurry to me especially), this one will be easily forgettable too if not for the non-racing stuffs, sadly.

I believe Jonas always had the measure of Almeida, it always looked like he's worried more about his own daily form here and there than about his one-speed rival.
 
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