2015 Vuelta a España Stage 15: Katusha’s Rodriquez solos to summit finish; Aru’s lead slips to one second

After Joaquim Rodriquez’s alpine victory on the Vuelta a Espana’s 15th stage, Fabio Aru, whose overall lead has held fast to the red jersey thus far, has seen that advantage whittled down to just a second. The 36-year-old Team Katusha rider is steadily bearing down.

For Rodriquez, it all came down to one last attack as the race, nearing the end of its arduous 175.8 km haul, started the final climb to the summit. Rising out of his saddle and pouring on the power, Rodriquez surged past an increasingly drained Nairo Quintana and dropped Aru, taking a steep solo ride to the mountainous finish. Crossing the line, Rodriquez claimed the stage win in 4:33:31, with Italy’s Aru — holding on to the red jersey, but just barely — in fifth place, 15 seconds back.

With Aru clinging to the lead, Tum Dumoulin, meanwhile, lost a bit of overall standing, slipping to fourth after stage 15. Poland’s Rafal Majka, who finished the stage in second, now finds himself third overall. Rolling in third 14 seconds behind Rodriquez was teammate Daniel Moreno.

Quintana, riding for Movistar, finished stage 15 in fourth place, clocking the same gap as Aru.

Canada’s Dominique Rollin, notably, had a dramatically stronger day during stage 15 than the previous, with the Cofidis rider finishing the stage in 44th place, 8:46 behind Rodriquez. On Saturday, Rollin finished stage 14 in 139th place, while countryman Antoine Duchesne, riding for Europcar, came in 83rd. Duchesne, however, dropped back somewhat on Sunday’s stage 15, rolling in 114th, 17:33 behind Rodriquez. In overall classification, Rollin is 128th with a time of 2:31:52. Duchesne, meanwhile, is 149th with 2:45:00.

For competitors at the 2015 Vuelta, what looms now is stage 16, a 184-kilometre grind from Luarca to Ermita del Alba. It’s a stage consisting of seven increasingly harder climbs, with its final nine kilometre ascent — beginning immediately after the high-speed category one descent from Alto de la Corbertoria — expected to draw a fever pitch of competition. For the Vuelta’s climbers, this will be a hotly-contested stage, peaking 1,180m above sea level.

Given the way stage 15 went, it’s a stage that could see the red jersey change hands, too.

2015 Vuelta a España Stage 15

1) Joaquin Rodriquez (Spain/Katusha) 4:33:31
2) Rafal Majka  (Poland/Tinkoff-Saxo) 0:00:12
3) Daniel Moreno (Spain/Katusha) 0:00:14
44) Dominique Rollin (Canada/Cofidis) +8:46
114) Antoine Duchesne (Canada/Europcar) +17:33

2015 Vuelta a España GC

1) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) 61:53:56
2) Joaquin Rodriguez (Spain/Katusha) +0:01
3) Rafal Majka (Poland/Tinkoff-Saxo) +1:24
128) Dominique Rollin (Canada/Cofidis) +2:31:52
149) Antoine Duchesne (Canada/Europcar) +2:45:00