'Victory even sweeter' - Delighted Pedersen unlocks winning formula at Vuelta

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) claimed his first stage win of the 2025 Vuelta a España after an emphatic sprint from the breakaway on stage 15 in Monforte de Lemos on Sunday. The Dane outwitted and outpowered his rivals in a tactical finale after being part of a 47-rider breakaway.

The green jersey leader followed the crucial move of Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) on an uncategorised climb with 32km remaining, joining seven riders who bridged across to early escapees Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep). 

"I have to say it makes the victory even sweeter, the way the team worked the whole day," Pedersen said. "Five guys in the first group, and when the two guys went away on the second KOM, they were really strong and got a lot of time, and the boys were working so hard to make it possible."

It was a difficult finish for Pedersen to negotiate as he was heavily marked by his breakaway companions, but he used his strength and stayed cool, timing his effort perfectly using Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), who launched early, to take the win comfortably ahead of Orluis Aular (Movistar) and the Italian, Frigo.

"It makes it even nicer to win when everyone was looking at us and everyone knew our plan, and still we succeeded with the victory, and that's absolutely incredible," Pedersen added.

Pedersen also acknowledged the difficulties of controlling the finale with flying attacks from other riders in the group and timing his sprint to perfection, as the most-watched rider. 

"There was no choice as I had to follow everything, keep the speed a bit high so nobody wanted to go," he explained. "When [Marco] Frigo went with 700 metres to go, that was perfect because then he kind of was a lead out, so I was closing him slowly, and after the corner it was 220 metres to go, so it was time to open the sprint."

Pedersen has been one of the most combative riders during the Vuelta so far, and although he leads the points classification, his lead now extends further to 98 points, but he had yet to taste victory at this Vuelta until now, and that added extra weight to his performance on Sunday

"I really wanted to have a win, and today we succeeded, so that's amazing."

This stage win marks the fourth in total at the Vuelta in Pedersen’s career, the 11th Grand Tour stage, and the 60th success as a professional.