La Vuelta Ciclista a España
Stage 20: Robledo de Chavela > Bola del Mundo-Puerto de Navacerrada
Spain
Saturday 13 September 2025
164.8 km
Landa most combative again at La Vuelta

Bola del Mundo returned at the Vuelta for the first time in more than a decade, the cherry on the cake at the end of a tough day of racing with five classified climbs that amounted to a total of 4200 meters of elevation gain.
Right from the start, there was a flurry of attacks, and T-Rex Quick-Step immediately joined the party with Mikel Landa and Mauri Vansevenant. The group kept getting bigger and bigger to the point it numbered 37 riders, but their gap remained at all times around the two-minute mark, as some of the GC teams made sure of tightly controlling this margin. Landa – runner-up a couple of days ago – was one of the strongest riders in the group, and in the final 30 kilometers he attacked numerous times; the Basque made a selection and kept persevering also on the descent, before the start of the 12.2km Bola del Mundo.
Briefly dropped there, Mikel dragged himself back at the front of the race, where he remained until three kilometers to go, when the race surface became concrete, making it more difficult for the riders, who also had to overcome the slopes which reached 20%. Caught by the reduced peloton which also featured teammate Junior Lecerf, Landa was then distanced, but this didn’t stop him from concluding an impressive top 15 after more than 125 kilometers in the breakaway – a great ride that brought him his second most combative rider of the stage trophy.
“I knew it was going to be the last opportunity to go for a stage victory, and although we knew it would be difficult, we did our best in the leading group. We had around one minute before the last ascent, but it wasn’t enough in the headwind and on those tough gradients. I left it all out there and I am really content with finishing the race like this”, Mikel said.
Lecerf was the other T-Rex Quick-Step rider to impress on one of cycling’s hardest climbs, despite both the pace in the group and the gradients ramping up. The Belgian kept hanging on seventh or eighth wheel until the final two kilometers, when he lost contact with the group from where Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) emerged victorious. Junior did his own race as the top of Bola del Mundo got closer and closer, and eventually finished a remarkable ninth.
“We did well from the start, placing a couple of guys in the break, but the GC teams didn’t give too much space to the group and they reeled them in with just a few kilometers left. It’s a pity, because Mikel had good legs and could have fought for the win. Louis and Max did a great job for me in the peloton, protecting and keeping me out of the wind, something for which I am grateful. At the same time, I am satisfied with getting a top ten on this climb after a hard day of racing”, Junior explained after cementing his 11th place in the ranking.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
3:56:23 |
2 |
Sepp Kuss Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
0:11 |
3 |
Jai Hindley Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
0:13 |
4 |
Thomas Pidcock Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
0:18 |
5 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
0:22 |
6 |
Matthew Riccitello Israel - Premier Tech |
0:24 |
7 |
Jay Vine UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
0:47 |
8 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
1:11 |
9 |
Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:22 |
10 |
Finlay Pickering Bahrain - Victorious |
1:30 |
14 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:21 |
56 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
17:04 |
74 |
Maximilian Schachmann
Soudal Quick-Step |
20:44 |
92 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step |
26:02 |
1 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
72:53:57 |
2 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
1:16 |
3 |
Thomas Pidcock Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
3:11 |
4 |
Jai Hindley Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
3:41 |
5 |
Matthew Riccitello Israel - Premier Tech |
5:55 |
6 |
Giulio Pellizzari Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
7:23 |
7 |
Sepp Kuss Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
7:45 |
8 |
Felix Gall Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team |
7:50 |
9 |
Torstein Træen Bahrain - Victorious |
9:48 |
10 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
12:16 |
11 |
Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step |
14:00 |
27 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:18:26 |
37 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:50:12 |
73 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:53:37 |
74 |
Maximilian Schachmann
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:54:04 |
1 |
Mads Pedersen Lidl - Trek |
277 pt |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
197 pt |
3 |
Jasper Philipsen Alpecin - Deceuninck |
135 pt |
4 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
123 pt |
5 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
123 pt |
6 |
Ethan Vernon Israel - Premier Tech |
123 pt |
7 |
Thomas Pidcock Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team |
104 pt |
8 |
Jai Hindley Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
99 pt |
9 |
Jay Vine UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
94 pt |
10 |
Orluis Aular Sanabria Movistar Team |
93 pt |
15 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
63 pt |
22 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
52 pt |
62 |
Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step |
19 pt |
1 |
Jay Vine UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
61 pt |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
56 pt |
3 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
32 pt |
4 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
32 pt |
5 |
Joel Nicolau Beltran Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
31 pt |
6 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
28 pt |
7 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates - XRG |
26 pt |
8 |
Nicolas Vinokurov XDS Astana Team |
22 pt |
9 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
22 pt |
10 |
Jai Hindley Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
22 pt |
44 |
Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step |
2 pt |
1 |
Matthew Riccitello Israel - Premier Tech |
72:59:52 |
2 |
Giulio Pellizzari Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
1:28 |
3 |
Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step |
8:05 |
4 |
Abel Balderstone Roumens Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
22:12 |
5 |
Jaume Guardeño Roma Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
24:35 |
6 |
Kevin Vermaerke Team Picnic PostNL |
44:13 |
7 |
Harold Martín López Granizo XDS Astana Team |
53:28 |
8 |
Ben Tulett Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
58:51 |
9 |
Finlay Pickering Bahrain - Victorious |
1:16:07 |
10 |
Marco Frigo Israel - Premier Tech |
1:28:22 |
1 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 217:41:26 |
2 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 23:01 |
3 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 1:20:52 |
4 | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 1:40:59 |
5 | Bahrain - Victorious | 1:53:57 |
6 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 1:56:40 |
7 | Soudal Quick-Step | 2:03:59 |
8 | XDS Astana Team | 2:04:43 |
9 | Israel - Premier Tech | 2:55:09 |
10 | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 3:16:16 |