The 2025 Vuelta a Espana continued Saturday with stage 20, which would be the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta. Stage 20 would challenge the riders to an exhausting battle in serious mountain terrain. The 164.8-kilometer route from Robledo de Chavela to Bola del Mundo Puerto de Navacerrada would include two Category 3 climbs, one Category 2 climb, one Category 1 climb, and conclude with a possibly decisive uphill battle on a Beyond Category climb.

Favorites to take the stage victory included Jai Hindley (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe), Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), and not least Joao Almeida, whose UAE Team would do anything to use the final opportunity to dethrone Vingegaard and see Almeida crowned Vuelta a Espana champion in Madrid tomorrow.

Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) remained general classification leader of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana before today’s mountain battle. Denmark’s Vingegaard had gained four bonus seconds in yesterday’s stage. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was second in the GC, now 44 seconds behind the leader. Great Britain’s Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) was third in the GC, 02:43 minutes behind GC leader Vingegaard.

Stage 20 started under sunny skies in the mountain village of Robledo de Chavela. Mikkel Bjerg, who rides as lieutenant in support of UAE Team Emirates captain Joao Almeida, crashed in the neutral kilometers before the actual start of the stage. Other riders crashed too, and many riders were nervous, because this was a very important and possibly decisive stage. It was also the penultimate opportunity for many teams to secure their first victory in this year’s Vuelta as only seven teams had been successful this far.

Several breakaway attempts were launched in the first kilometers of today’s stage 20, which were contested in uphill terrain. The riders passed through beautiful pine forest terrain and Michal Kwiatkowski, Egan Bernal and other Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies riders were active in front. Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone and Decahtlon-AG2R riders were also trying their luck.

No viable lead had been formed with 152 kilometers left and riders from Bahrain-Victorious, Picnic-PostNL, Soudal-QuickStep and other teams were still trying to form a breakaway group as the riders were approaching the summit of the first climb on today’s menu. Mikel Landa was showing great initiative.

A large breakaway group of 35-40 riders formed in the following kilometers and Mads Pedersen, Egan Bernal and other riders were working hard to set a fast pace in the front group as it approached the summit of Puerto de La Paradilla, which was a Category 3 climb.

Mikkel Bjerg and UAE Team Emirates colleagues we fighting to control the pace in the main peloton while being closely monitored by Vingegaard’s Visma troops.

The large breakaway group had increased its advantage to 01:30 minutes when 120 kilometers remained. UAE Team Emirates were controlling the chase pace in the main peloton while now closely followed by riders from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

The Red Bull riders were dissatisfied with the pace in the main peloton and were protecting their interests in the general classification where the team was working intensively to place Jai Hindley on the final podium of this year’s Vuelta a Espana. In addition to this, 

The breakaway group featured more than thirty riders with seventy kilometers to the finish line. The front group included prominent riders such as Egan Bernal, Mikel Landa, Santiago Buitrago, Giulio Ciccone, Bob Jungels, Stefan Küng, Sean Quinn, Carlos Canal, Jesus Herrada, and had a time advantage of 01:20 minutes as it approached Puerto de Navacerrada – the Category 1 climb was the penultimate climb of the stage, and it was expected to influence the outcome of the stage.

Attacks were now anticipated from both within the front group and the main peloton as riders were looking to improve their chances of a stage victory or advancement in the general classification.

The speed in both the main peloton and the front group was intense on the Puerto de Navacerrada climb and the action caused most riders to get dropped from both the front group and the main peloton. As expected, riders from UAE Team Emirates were setting a fast pace in the main peloton and it became a reduced GC favorites group as the climb progressed. The UAE riders were hoping to drain Vingegaard’s energy stores early in the stage, so Almeida could gain the necessary time on the GC leader.

Van der Lee was the first rider to reach the summit and gained the most points for the KOM classification while other breakaway participants were preparing for the chilly and technical descent.

Bernal, Bruno Armirail, Ciccone, Landa and Van der Lee remained in the front group on the descent. The five riders navigated the descent safely, but their advantage over the GC favorites peloton was now only a minute.

23 kilometers remained of today’s stage 20 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, and the riders were approaching the final climb of the stage – the Puerto de Navacerrada Bola del Mundo, which was categorized as Beyond Category. A final battle between the riders in the top of the general classification was expected. The slope had an average gradient of 8.6 percent, but with much steeper sections, not least in the final kilometers.

Protesters blocked the road and stopped the race because the PremierTech team was still refusing to pull out of this year’s Vuelta. The riders did their best to pass by the protesters, but this year’s Vuelta had been greatly influenced by the PremierTech team and its decision to remain in the race instead of protecting the safety of other teams and riders.

Mikel Landa was the first rider to pass the barricades, while Bernal and Ciccone were chasing together with Van der Lee.

Landa was still solo in front when thirteen kilometers remained of today’s stage. The chasers were now ten seconds behind and were closing in on the talented Spanish rider.

Bernal, Ciccone and Van der Lee caught Landa with less than twelve kilometers to the finish line. The reduced main peloton was 01:10 minutes behind, but the final kilometers on the Bola del Mundo still awaited the Vuelta cyclists. The GC favorites group was spearheaded by UAE Team Emirates riders.

Ciccone caught Landa and the duo was 28 seconds ahead of first chaser Bernal with seven kilometers left of the Beyond Category climb where the steepest sections were yet to come. The Vingegaard group was now 38 seconds behind the front duo.

Egan Bernal had delivered a courageous and race-animating effort during the stage, but the Colombian rider from Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies got reeled in by the Vingegaard group, which was spearheaded by Jay Vine.

Landa and Ciccone were cooperating well in the front duo with four kilometers to the finish line. The final three kilometers to the finish line would be the toughest challenge of today’s stage. It remained to be seen if Landa’s back pain issues would influence his racing in the final sections.

Despite the strong efforts from the front duo participants, the GC favorites group caught Landa and Ciccone with three kilometers left. The front group of GC favorites now featured less than ten riders. The stage winner would be found from the riders in the group.

Five riders remained in the front group with 2.5 kilometers to the finish. The group now featured Jonas Vingegaard, Joao Almeida, Tom Pidcock, Jai Hindley and Sepp Kuss.

Jai Hindley accelerated and tried to drop Vingegaard, but the strong Dane stuck to his rear wheel. Almeida tried to close the gap with Sepp Kuss on his wheel. Tom Pidcock also closed the gap, and the five front riders were reunited with 1.6 kilometers to the summit.

Hindley was still leading the front group with 1.3 kilometers left while hoping to drop Thomas Pidcock and gain a spot on the final GC podium.

Jonas Vingegaard attacked and opened a small gap. Hindley was the first rider to try to make the leap to the Dane in the red jersey.

Vingegaard increased his lead in the following meters. Four chasers were now ten seconds behind. Only a short distance remained to the summit of the final climb of this year’s Vuelta a Espana.

Jonas Vingegaard continued to increase his advantage all the way to the finish line and reached the summit as winner of stage 20 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana for Team Visma-Lease a Bike. Teammate Sepp Kuss was the next rider to reach the finish line. The American rider was eleven seconds slower than the stage winner. Jai Hindley completed the stage podium for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe thirteen seconds after Vingegaard.

Tom Pidcock finished fourth, 18 seconds behind the stage winner, while UAE Team Emirates captain Joao Almeida proved unable to challenge Vingegaard in today’s stage and the Portuguese rider crossed the finish line no less than twenty-two seconds after Vingegaard.

Vingegaard increased his lead in the general classification by winning today’s stage 20 and is now 01:16 minutes ahead of Joao Almeida before tomorrow’s final stage. Tom Pidcock remains third in the GC, 03:11 minutes back, while Jai Hindley is fourth, 03:41 minutes behind the Danish leader.

The 2025 Vuelta a Espana will conclude on Sunday with stage 21, which will be contested as a stage in Madrid. The sprinters in the peloton are expected to battle for a stage win, while the stage is not expected to cause significant changes to the general classification. The winner of this year’s Vuelta a Espana will be crowned on the podium in Madrid following the stage.

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