Following yesterday’s exciting stage 5 team time trial action, the 2025 Vuelta a Espana continued Thursday with stage 6 – a 170.3-kilometer route from Olot to Pal Andorra in northern mountain territory. The stage would conclude on the Pal climb (Category 1) where the general classification favorites were expected to battle for valuable time gains in the general classification. Stage 6 would include two Category 1 climbs, one category 2 climb, and a Category 3 climb.

UAE Team Emirates had won Wednesday’s stage 5, where race organizers Unipublic and A.S.O. celebrated the long-neglected team time trial discipline. Team Visma-Lease a Bike had finished second in the team time trial discipline and while Jonas Vingegaard had managed to reclaim the red jersey and general classification lead, the UAE Team had positioned no less than three strong GC candidates eight seconds behind Vingegaard in the GC. Denmark’s Vingegaard would now be exposed to an exhausting battle against Joao Almeida, Marc Soler and Juan Ayuso in the remaining sixteen stages of this year’s Vuelta a Espana.

The start list of Vuelta a Espana 2025 featured experienced and talented riders such as Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-Alula), Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers).

While Simon Carr (Cofidis Team), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep), and Arjen Livyns (Lotto-Caps) had been forced to abandon the race overnight, the remaining riders in the Vuelta peloton gathered at the start line of stage 6 in Olot. It did not take long before the first breakaway attempts were being launched from the front of the peloton. 

While multiple early attacking attempts proved unsuccessful, a ten-man group eventually succeeded at forming a viable breakaway early in stage 6. The pack of breakaway optimists included Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R), Torstein Traen (Bahrain-Victorious), and Lorenzo Fortunato. Having successfully conquered the Collada de Santigosa climb (Category 3), the group had established a lead of 01:20 minutes after twenty-seven kilometers of intense racing, while riders from Team Visma-Lease a Bike were trying to keep the breakaway under control from the front of the main peloton.

The ten-man front group continued to increase its time advantage to two minutes in the following kilometers as it approached the Collada de Toses, which was a Category 1 climb.

The breakaway optimists continued their hard work on Collada de Toses and had managed to increase the gap between the group and the chasing peloton to more than three minutes with 105 kilometers of the stage remaining. Vervaeke was the first rider to reach the summit of Collada de Toses and earned the most points for the KOM classification. Jay Vine was second across the summit, followed by Lorenzo Fortunato. The weather conditions were unpleasant, but the rain, hailstorms and slippery roads were not having a discouraging effect on the riders.

It stopped raining and the front group had a lead of 04:30 minutes with 64 kilometers left of the stage. Riders from Visma-Lease a Bike were still working to keep the breakaway group under control.

The riders continued through the valley stretch while being exposed to intermittent rain showers. The breakaway group left Spain and entered Andorra with 35 kilometers left of the stage and a time advantage of 06:35 minutes.

The riders approached Andorra la Vella while climbing their bikes. The mountain territory would continue after the city, as the riders would be exposed to the Alto de la Comella climb, which is a Category 2 climb. The climb would be followed by a technical and possibly dangerous descent and weather reports were predicting rain showers, which could render the tarmac slippery.

A combined ten-rider front group entered Alto de la Comella, and it started raining. Meanwhile, multiple teams were battling for positions in the main peloton while setting up their general classification favorites and outsiders. Visma-Lease a Bike, Bahrain-Victorious, Jayco-Alula, and Lidl-Trek riders were spotted and even points classification leader Mads Pedersen contributed to the effort.

The front group continued up the climb while the main peloton was spearheaded by riders from Team Visma-Lease a Bike. Joao Almeida was surprisingly in the rear part of the favorites peloton group on the climb, but it appeared it was because of a flat bike tire. The Portuguese rider switched bikes and fought his way back to the other favorites, though he was known to dislike the wet racing conditions.

Jay Vine attacked from the front group and was the first rider to reach the summit and enter the wet descent. Vine formed a lead of twenty-three seconds on the downhill stretch and later increased his advantage to thirty-six seconds with thirteen kilometers to the finish line. The main peloton was more than four minutes back.

Riders from Visma-Lease a Bike, Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe and Decathlon-AG2R were leading the chase effort in the main peloton and all general classification favorites were on high alert while watching the competition.

Vine continued his solo effort while approaching the final seven kilometers. The nine chasers were still more than one minute behind the Australian climber and some of the riders were showing signs of weakness. Torstein Traen then initiated a solo attack and a chase effort.

Juan Ayuso got dropped from the main peloton with five kilometers left. This was a big surprise and a drawback for UAE Team Emirates as they would no longer have three riders chasing Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification.

Vine was continuing his solo effort in front and had a lead of fifty seconds over Traen with less than three kilometers to the finish line. The reduced main peloton group was now more than five minutes behind Vine on the climb. The roads were wet, but the sun was shining. Lidl-Trek riders were leading the GC favorites group.

Giulio Ciccone attacked from the GC favorites group and only Jonas Vingegaard responded. The duo was now a few meters in front of the GC favorites who remained part of the GC peloton group at this point. Vingegaard and Ciccone continued to increase their advantage in the following meters.

Vingegaard and Ciccone got reeled in by Joao Almeida and other favorites before entering the final kilometer. Almeida tried a counterattack, but Vingegaard and Ciccone closed him down.

Jay Vine continued his impressive effort all the way to the finish line at the summit of Pal in Andorra. The Australian rider crossed the line as winner of stage 6 for UAE Team Emirates after a courageous effort. Torstein Traen was the next rider to conclude the stage and finished second for Bahrain-Victorious. Lorenzo Fortunato completed the stage podium.

While other riders from the breakaway group reached the finish line, the GC favorites were firing on all engines further back, while trying to gain time on their competitors. Almeida tried to launch an attack with two hundred meters left, but Vingegaard, Ciccone and the other favorites did not allow the Portuguese rider to form a gap. The favorites reached the finish line together.

The admirable effort from Torstein Traen and his second-place finish caused him to claim the general classification lead from Jonas Vingegaard. Norwegian Traen will wear the red jersey as race leader in tomorrow’s stage. Bruno Armirail advanced to second place in the general classification for Decathlon-AG2R, while Lorenzo Fortunato is now third. Louis Vervaeke is fourth for Soudal-QuickStep, while Jonas Vingegaard is fifth, Joao Almeida sixth, and Giulio Ciccone seventh in the GC.

Friday’s stage 7 of Vuelta a Espana 2025 will take the riders on a continued journey through mountainous terrain. The remaining riders in the Vuelta peloton will start Friday’s stage 7 in Andorra la Vella, race 188 kilometers through the mountains, before concluding the stage with an uphill finish to Cerler. Huesca la Magia. General classification favorites are expected to work their magic while battling for valuable time gains.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.