2021 Vuelta a España Stage 15 Results & Recap
Stage 15 of the 2021 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Majka wins stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana
Rafał Majka (Uae Team Emirates) took his first victory in four years today when he rode outside himself to win one of the most critical stages of the Vuelta a Espana. From the breakaway, the Pole took off on the Puerto de Pedro Bernardo and, for 87 kilometres, was chased by Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), who ended up second 1:27 behind and Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) finished third at 2:19.
“It’s special," Majka said. "Sometimes you try, and it’s not easy to go for the break. But today I tried from the start to the end, I din’t wait for anybody today. I wanted to win the stage. Specially, I wanted to do it for my father, who passed away, for my two kids and also for the great team that UAE is. I’m so happy. I had a bad start of the season, and it was not easy for me and for my family.”
Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) held onto red after the 197km mountain stage, and remains 56 seconds ahead of Guillaume Martin before the rest day.
"I was relieved in the end. It was a really hard day, really long, but I have to say my team did a really good race. Without them, I might not have the red jersey today. A huge thanks to them. I know all the riders in my team are very strong, it’s just we’ve never been in this situation before. I see now we should have many times! I looked at my two closest rivals, Guillaume Martin and [Primoz] Roglic, to not let them go. It was a pretty tough finish, and once we passed the top, I knew I was pretty safe.”
Get our full coverage of the Vuelta a España and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
