LA VUELTA 2025 | STAGE 16 | POIO > MOS.CASTRO DE HERVILLE
ProPalestinian activists blasted slogans over official race radio after hacking the Vuelta communication systems.
They brought the race to a stop and the final climb was canceled.
Stage 16 had to be shortened due to protests, but it didn’t prevent Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) from taking his 58th professional victory, and his first in the Spanish Grand Tour. The Colombian icon made the decisive breakaway on the roads of Galicia, where he proved to be a driving force for the attackers, before eventually getting the better of Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) in a two-man sprint. The finish was moved to Mos, 8 kilometres before the initial arrival in Castro de Herville, due to protests in the final kilometres of the stage. Already a winner in the Giro, Bernal was also leading stage 19 of the Tour de France 2019 when it was shortened due to weather conditions. This marks his first success in an international race since a life‑changing crash in January 2022, after returning to winning ways at the Colombian national championships at the beginning of 2025. Among the contenders for the overall standings, Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) lost almost a minute, while Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retained La Roja.
Who’s not fed up with them yet??
The 155-man peloton dive into the third and final week of La Vuelta 25 with a punchy course on the roads of Galicia: 167.9 km of racing from Poio to Mos, with four categorised climbs and some 3,500 metres of elevation. Four years ago, the same finish, after a similar course, had turned the race upside down. What do the riders have in store this Tuesday?
Another hard battle for the break
Attackers eye one of their last opportunities to shine. And a fierce battle for the break unfolds. After a flurry of attacks and counter-attacks, Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Bob Jungels (Ineos Grenadiers), Finlay Pickering (Bahrain Victorious) and Victor Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) manage to open a proper gap at km 50.
Thirteen chasers bridge the gap to make it a 17-man breakaway with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar Team), Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Mikel Landa, Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Clément Braz Afonso, Rudy Molard, Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Rouland (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Kevin Vermaeke (Picnic-PostNL) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech).
The Bernal show
Visma-Lease a Bike set an easier pace and the gap increases to 4 minutes en route to the first climb of the day, Alto de San Antoñino. The battle resumes on the second climb of the day, with Landa distancing his rivals 3 kilometres away from the summit of Alto do Graba. Bernal and then Braz Afonos join him before the summit. Braz Afonso and Denz come across on the downhill.
Soler drives a strong chase with Pickering, but they fail to bridge the gap. Denz and Rolland are dropped on the penultimate ascent, Alto de Prado, before the race organisation communicates on Radio Vuelta that the finish will be set 8 kilometres before the original arrival, due to protests.
Bernal rules the two-man sprint against Landa, while Rolland comes 3rd after Braz Afonso’s puncture in the finale. Bahrain Victorious set a strong pace in the bunch to defend Torstein Træen’s place of 10th in the overall standings and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) loses 54’’ to his rivals.
1 Egan BERNAL GOMEZ INEOS GRENADIERS 03h 35′ 10” – B : 14” –
2 Mikel LANDA MEANA SOUDAL QUICK-STEP 03h 35′ 10” – B : 12” –
3 Brieuc ROLLAND GROUPAMA-FDJ 03h 35′ 17” + 00h 00′ 07” B : 4”
GC
1 Jonas VINGEGAARD HANSEN TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE 61h 16′ 35” – B : 40” –
2 Joao ALMEIDA UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG 61h 17′ 23” + 00h 00′ 48” B : 20” –
3 Tom PIDCOCK Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM 61h 19′ 13” + 00h 02′ 38” B : 12”
