Pablo Castrillo wins stage 15 of the Vuelta a España

Payares. Spaniard Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) won stage 15 of the Vuelta on Sunday, finishing at the Cuitu Negru pass in Asturias (north), achieving his second partial victory in the current Spanish round, which continues to be led by Ben O’Connor.

Castrillo crossed the finish line in dense fog 12 seconds ahead of Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Third at the finish was Frenchman Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates).

On the steepest slopes of the Cuitu Negru, with gradients above 20 percent, the rider from the Spanish team Ken Pharma was able to resist the return of Vlasov.

“With all that fog, there was an incredible crowd that pushed me a lot, and thanks also to the team who did an incredible job,” said an emotional Castrillo as soon as he crossed the finish line.

Already the winner of stage 12 on Thursday, Castrillo, 23, claimed the most prestigious victory of his career after setting off three kilometres from the finish. “I was more than satisfied with the first stage, and everything that came next was a gift for me.”

Roglic continues to reduce the gap

In the fight for the general classification, Slovenian Primoz Roglic finished fifth at the finish line, cutting another 38 seconds to the lead. jersey red Ben O’Connor, who is now only 43 seconds behind him.

After a great job by his teammate Florian Lipowitz, Roglic, second in the general classification and seeking his fourth Vuelta a España victory (2019, 2020, 2021), also changed pace, after an unsuccessful first attempt by Mikel Landa. The Slovenian was more successful and managed to drop O’Connor.

Third overall is Spaniard Enric Mas, who arrived at the same time as Roglic – he even passed in front of him at the finish line – and fourth is Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who lost 9 seconds to these two, and is 2 minutes 44 seconds behind the red jersey.

The second and final rest day of this edition of the Vuelta will take place on Monday, before Tuesday’s stage with the legendary climb to the Lakes of Covadonga. This is where Roglic won in 2021, in what was his last stage victory in the Vuelta.