Pablo Castrillo Wins Stage 15 as Roglic Closes on O’Connor

Pablo Castrillo secured his second mountain victory in Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España, overtaking Aleksandr Vlasov in a gripping finish on the Cuitu Negru’s steep slopes. The Spanish rider from Equipo Kern Pharma broke away near the end of the final climb to clinch the win. Castrillo, who has been rumored to join Ineos Grenadiers expressed his surprise and delight at winning again, calling it a dream.

Primoz Roglic, who finished alongside Enric Mas, closed the gap on the overall leader Ben O’Connor despite receiving a 20-second penalty for drafting behind the team car. Roglic and two Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe teammates were penalized for benefiting from a slipstream after a bike change specifically for the ascent.

O’Connor, still leading, now holds a 63-second advantage over Roglic with the final week of the race approaching including an individual time trial in Madrid. Enric Mas trails in third place, 2 minutes and 23 seconds behind while Adam Yates is the top British rider in 11th place over five minutes off the pace.

Stage 15 results:
1. Pablo Castrillo (Esp/Equipo Kern Pharma) 3hrs 45mins 51secs
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Red Bull – Bora-Hansgrohe) +12secs
3. Pavel Sivakov (Fra/UAE Team Emirates) +31secs
4. Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar) +1min 04secs
5. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull – Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl – Trek) +1min 09secs

General Classification after Stage 15:
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) 60hrs 19mins 22secs
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull – Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 03secs
3. Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar) +2mins 23secs