TakeVuelta2 days ago
Wout van Aert won stage 15 from a five-man breakaway at Córdoba, beating Alessandro Romele and Thibau Nys — Visma-Lease a Bike's fifth stage win of the race and van Aert's second. The heat protocol cut 80km and one climb from the route, a change that should have handed the finish to sprinters. Instead Visma set such a pace on the Puerto Artafi that only five riders escaped, and van Aert outran all of them.
Shortening a stage and removing a category 3 climb is supposed to flatten the racing, not sharpen it. Visma turned it into their own selection instead, driving the pace hard enough on the Puerto Artafi that just five riders made the split. Van Aert then won that reduced group anyway — his second win of this Vuelta after stage 13 in Loja, and a repeat of the Córdoba finish where he won back in 2024. The protocol was built to protect riders from the heat; Visma used it to protect their control of the race.
Sources
Results Vuelta a Espana 2026 Stage 15 | Wout van Aert wins five-man thriller after extreme heat slashes almost 80km from routeOn heat-shortened day Wout Van Aert wins another 2026 Vuelta a España stage - Canadian Cycling MagazineVuelta a España 2026 stage 15 preview: Who can challenge Visma on shortened stage to Córdoba? — RouleurVuelta a España 2026 Stage 15 preview: Van Aert, Brennan and Cort face a breakaway battle into Córdoba - ProCyclingUK