The 2015 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling race that took place principally in Spain between 22 August and 13 September 2015; two stages also took place partly or wholly in Andorra. The first ten stages took the race from Spain's southern Mediterranean coast to Castellón de la Plana on the eastern coast.
Stage 1 was a team time trial that took place around the Costa del Sol beach resort of Marbella on 22 August. The day before the stage took place, its route was deemed to be dangerous by the race commissaires; the times did not therefore count for the general classification and several teams rode the stage slowly. The second stage was therefore the first whose times counted; it was the first of nine summit finishes in the Vuelta and was won by Esteban Chaves (), who took the leader's red jersey. Stages 3, 4 and 5 were hilly sprint stages, won by Peter Sagan (), Alejandro Valverde () and Caleb Ewan () respectively. Tom Dumoulin () took the red jersey after the fifth stage because of a split in the peloton at the finish line.
The race returned to the mountains on stage 6 with a third-category summit finish. This was again won by Chaves, who therefore regained the race lead. He retained this the following day on the first first-category summit finish of the race. This was won by riders from a breakaway; the significant general classification changes were the several seconds won by Fabio Aru () and the time lost by Chris Froome (), the winner of the 2015 Tour de France. Another hilly stage followed: this was won by Jasper Stuyven () from a sprint, despite breaking his scaphoid earlier in the stage. Several other riders crashed during the stage, including Sagan, who was hit by a race motorbike. The ninth stage was the first before the Vuelta's first rest day and was another first-category summit finish. It was won by Dumoulin just ahead of Froome; Dumoulin took back the red jersey.
After a transfer to Andorra and the rest day, the riders took on a very difficult stage at the beginning of the second week. This involved six categorised climbs in just of racing, with very little flat road between them. The stage was won by Mikel Landa (), with his teammate Fabio Aru moving into the race lead and Rodríguez moving into second, with Dumoulin third. Chris Froome (), who had crashed at the very beginning of the stage and ridden the rest of it with a broken foot, withdrew from the race the following morning.
Classification standings
Legend Denotes the leader of the general classification Denotes the leader of the points classification Denotes the leader of the mountains classification Denotes the leader of the combination rider classification
Stage 1 22 August 2015 — Puerto Banús to Marbella, (TTT)
The first stage was a flat, team time trial along the sea front from Puerto Banús to Marbella. It was scheduled to take place in the evening, with the first team starting at 18:40 and the last team expected to finish at 20:33. Two days before the stage, several riders arrived at the course and raised concerns about safety. Their concerns included the seven changes in road surface, ramps, a section on a rubber mat on the beach and a raised bridge section. Following a meeting between the race organisers, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the riders' union, it was decided to use the original route but to neutralise the stage for the general classification. The teams would, however, race for stage victory and the times would count for the team classification.
The first team to set a time was , who set a time of 8' 40". This was soon beaten by the next team to start, , who went 22" quicker. Their lead lasted until the eleventh team to start, , beat them by 7" to move into the lead. put in a strong ride but were 11" behind . then moved into the lead by less than a second. then beat this time – again by less than a second. The remaining teams – including , , and – rode carefully and did not attempt to win the stage, as it had no effect on the general classification. BMC therefore won the stage by a narrow margin ahead of ; this was their second team time trial success in successive Grand Tours after a similarly narrow victory over Sky in the Tour de France.
Peter Velits was the first BMC rider to cross the finish line and was therefore awarded the red jersey as the leader of the race, although all the 198 riders were on the same time. He attributed the team's victory to the tactic of sacrificing several riders who rode very hard at the beginning of the stage, while the remaining riders held on to set the time. Velits had previous success in the Vuelta: he finished on the podium of the 2010 edition. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) explained after the stage that his team had not attempted to win the stage because it was "quite dangerous" and there were "a lot of vibrations from the different surfaces", with additional difficulty coming from the time trial bikes.
Stage 2 23 August 2015 — Alhaurín de la Torre to Caminito del Rey,
The second stage was a route that included the first summit finish of the race. Most of the stage was fairly flat, with only the third-category Alto de Ardales after providing any significant difficulty ( at 4.4%). The finish of the stage, however, was on the third-category Alto de la Mesa. This was at an average of 6.5%, including a section of at almost 9% and shorter sections of 15%. The stage finished near the Caminito del Rey, one of the most famous sights in Málaga.
The first crash of the Vuelta came after just of racing: Matteo Pelucchi () was riding at the back of the peloton and crashed on a corner as Movistar rode hard at the front. He suffered abrasions and road rash and was forced to abandon the race. A breakaway escaped approximately later. It was formed of Nelson Oliveira (), Davide Villella (), Walter Pedraza (), Bert-Jan Lindeman (), José Gonçalves () and Matteo Montaguti (). Although the six riders were unable to build a significant lead, they did lead over the first climb of the day; Pedraza won the mountain points at the top of the Vuelta's first climb. At this point, the break's lead was about one minute.
With remaining, however, there was a large crash in the peloton, delaying a large number of riders. Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru (both ) were among the riders caught up in the crash. Aru was quickly given a bike and was soon with the main peloton, but Nibali waited a long time before Giuseppe Martinelli provided him with a new bike. Nibali was then forced to make a long chase to return to the peloton. Another Astana rider, Paolo Tiralongo also crashed and was seen after the incident bleeding from his head. After the team lost Pelucchi early in the day, 's David Tanner was also caught in the crash and suffered a broken pelvis.
On the climb to the finish, Cyril Gautier () was the first to attack, but was soon caught by Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who was in a group with Nicolas Roche (Sky) and Tom Dumoulin (). After work from his team, Esteban Chaves () attacked and bridged across to the leading three riders. Chaves soon dropped Quintana from the group and, despite an attack from Roche in the final , took the stage victory. This was his first ever Grand Tour stage victory and gave him the leader's jersey. Dumoulin was second on the stage with Roche third. Dan Martin () was fourth, 14" back, with Joaquim Rodríguez () and Quintana a further 12" behind. Chris Froome (Sky) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) came in together 30" behind Chaves, with Aru and all the other contenders further behind. As well as taking the overall lead of the race, Chaves also took the lead in the other three classifications (the points classification, the mountains classification and the combination classification).
After the stage, a video emerged of Nibali holding onto his team car as it accelerated away from a group of riders that had been caught up in the crash. The acceleration helped Nibali to rejoin the peloton ahead of the final climb. As a result of the incident, the race jury disqualified Nibali from the race, describing the situation as "really clear". One of the team's directeurs sportifs, Alexander Shefer, was also excluded from taking further part in the race. Nibali apologised for the incident after the race, but also expressed his frustration at having been abandoned by his team.
Stage 3 24 August 2015 — Mijas to Málaga,
The third stage of the race was a mixed, route from Mijas to Málaga. After of flat roads at the start, there was the third-category Alto de Mijas ( at 7%). Following a long descent, there were more flat roads, before the first-category Puerto del León ( at 5.2%). More flat roads followed as the riders approached Málaga along the coast, though there were more small hills in the final . The final kilometres were flat, though there was a tight turn with just over to the finish line.
A breakaway was formed early into the day, without significant chasing. It included eight riders: Natnael Berhane (MTN-Qhubeka), Sylvain Chavanel (IAM), Omar Fraile (Caja Rural), Walter Pedraza (Colombia), Martin Velits (Etixx-Quick Step), Alexis Gougeard (), Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Mérida) and Maarten Tjallingii (LottoNL-Jumbo). They had a three-minute lead over the peloton as they crossed the Alto de Mijas, with Fraile taking the mountains points. The first significant incident of the day was Paolo Tiralongo's abandoning the race; he had failed to recover from the crash on stage 2. Fraile also won the second mountain sprint of the day on the Puerto del León to take the lead of the mountains classification.
Despite the exposed course of the race, there were no significant winds and the most notable incident was the crash of Nacer Bouhanni () in the main peloton. Bouhanni clashed wheels with Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff-Saxo) with to the end of the stage; both returned to the main peloton. Bouhanni was assisted in getting back to the peloton by a "sticky bottle", where his directeur sportif handed him a bottle of water; handing the bottle over took twelve seconds, during which time the team car accelerated, helping Bouhanni in his chase. The incident drew comparisons with the one that had led to Nibali's disqualification the previous day; Bouhanni, however, was fined .
After the intermediate sprint – won by Chavanel – the breakaway broke up, with Tjallingii and Gougeard continuing in the lead; at one point they were 1' 40" ahead of the chasing peloton. The peloton was controlled by Tinkoff-Saxo (riding for Peter Sagan) and Giant-Alpecin (riding for John Degenkolb). The combined pressure of these teams caused Caleb Ewan () to be dropped and the breakaway was caught soon afterwards. Giant-Alpecin led out the sprint, but Sagan and Bouhanni were able to come around Degenkolb and Sagan took the stage victory. The victory was Sagan's first in a Grand Tour in over two years, since stage 7 of the 2013 Tour de France.
Stage 4 25 August 2015 — Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera,
The fourth stage was a route from Estepona to Vejer de la Frontera. The route did not include any categorised climbs. However, it was not expected to suit the sprinters, because there was a sharp incline in the closing part of the stage. With remaining, there was a section at approximately 13%, followed by a flatter section, a short descent and then another incline to the line. The roads used were narrow and twisting; the finale was expected to suit the puncheurs.