September 6: Palma del Río - Córdoba, 110.2km (Medium Mountains)
Enric Mas of Movistar Team, in Red Leader Jersey, refreshes with water during climb to the Sierra de la Pandera on Saturday(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rather than a 189.7km stage with 2,853m of climbing, stage 15 was reduced to 110.2km on Saturday by organisers, using 'Extreme Temperatures Protocol' activation with extreme heat predicted Andalucia on Sunday.
Sunday's stage will have the same start and finish, but will begin later, at 3:00 p.m. local time, and eliminate a northern loop around the Puente Nuevo reservoir. There will just be two categories climbs instead of three.
Starting in Palma del Río, on the Guadalquivir River, stage 15 heads towards the Sierra Morena, climbing the third-category Puerto de la Forestal and remaining on the original route for the opening 52 kilometres.
Rather than continue north to take in the categorised climb at Alto de Villaviciosa de Córdoba, the peloton will turn east on CO-3402 towards Santa María de Trassierra for a direct track to the finish.
The second and final categorised climb will remain at Puerto Artafi (5.9km at 5.6% gradient), which crests with 37km to go.
Following the final haul of mountains points, the intermediate sprint hits 5km later and then 13.5 more kilometres of climbing before nearly 9km of descending for a flat 10km to the finish.
Córdoba has hosted stage finishes of the Vuelta 22 time before. The last time was two years ago when Wout van Aert powered to a sprint victory and Decathlon's Ben O'Connor wore the red leader's jersey.
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This time Decathlon CMA CGM's Felix Gall is hunting red, with Enric Mas (Movistar) in the lead by 2:06, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Primož Roglič just another four seconds back in third overall. The stage may not have the distance and climbing for rivals to carve into Mas' lead, but Van Aert may eye another stage victory in familiar territory.
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Modified profile for stage 15 of 2026 Vuelta a España
(Image credit: Unipublic)
Modified map for stage 15 of 2026 Vuelta a España
(Image credit: La Flamme Rouge)
Puerto de la Forestal (cat. 3, 6.7km at 4.1%), kilometre 34
Puerto Artafi (cat. 3, 5.9km at 5.6%), kilometre 73
Sprints
Santa Maria de Trassiera, kilometre 78.5
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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