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Stage 20 La Vuelta: Tom Pidcock Keeps Third Place Overall

Tom Pidcock held on to his third place in the general classification after an impressive showdown on the iconic Bola del Mundo climb in the Sierra de Guadarrama, just north of Madrid. After more than 4,000 meters of elevation gain in Saturday’s stage, it all came down to the final three kilometers—the steepest, roughest gradients of the entire day.

13 September 2025

The 20th stage between Robledo de Chavela and Bola del Mundo/Puerto del Navacerrada was 165.6 kilometers long and would decide the final podium of this year’s Vuelta a España. The last climb, 12.3 kilometers in length, led to the highest point of the entire race: 2,251 meters above sea level. Coming into the stage, Tom Pidcock held a 39-second lead over Jai Hindley. Achieving a Grand Tour podium with a ProTeam—a second-division team—is something that happens very rarely, but this morning it was closer than ever for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.

After a fierce fight, the breakaway was established, with David de la Cruz and Nick Zukowsky representing the team. The group of 37 riders never gained more than two minutes on the peloton, where Fabio Christen, Marcel Camprubí, David González, and Damien Howson stayed close to Tom. David and Nick were caught on the lower slopes, but Damo held on to support Tom until seven kilometers to go.

The group of favorites soon whittled down to just the top four in the overall classification, along with former Vuelta winner Sepp Kuss. From there, it was up to Pidcock himself. He fought hard to stay on the wheel of his closest rival, Jai Hindley, diving to the inside of the steepest corners to rejoin the lead group time and again. He finished fourth on the stage, just five seconds behind Hindley. With one more sprinters’ stage to come, Pidcock still holds 30 seconds over the Australian and is on the brink of securing a historic third place overall.

After the finish, Tom Pidcock gave his first reaction, searching for words to describe the significance of this historic podium ride:

“This morning I was super up for it, ready for the stage. We’d had two relatively easy days, so today it felt like a one-day race—and that’s what I’m good at. It’s so hard to find a rhythm on such steep climbs and this surface. I was still in control on the steepest climbs, didn’t want to go over the limit, stay within that and not blow. I really don’t know what to say now. I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s the biggest performance of my career. I’m very exhausted. I can’t even find the words right now. I can now relax, I guess. Up until today I was super focused on everything and switched on for the race. I can now just enjoy it.”