The stage took the peloton from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna over a distance of 145 kilometres. Along the way, the riders had to tackle two categorised climbs. Early on, a group of twenty riders formed the day's breakaway. Shortly after, a second group of thirty riders, including Campenaerts, bridged across. Campenaerts set his own pace on the final climb but was able to rejoin the chasing group behind the race leaders. 

On the final climb, Ayuso and Javier Romo surged from the breakaway group. They fought it out amongst each other for the stage win, with Ayuso emerging victorious. In the final kilometres, the chasing riders closed in. Campenaerts surprised his fellow breakaway riders with a late attack, riding solo to claim fourth place. 

In the peloton, Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled the pace. On both climbs, the general classification riders remained calm. Vingegaard’s lead in the overall standings remains fifty seconds ahead of first pursuer João Almeida. Tomorrow, the gruelling stage with finish atop the Angliru awaits. 

“We stayed very focused all day,” said Vingegaard afterwards. “The main goal today was to get through the stage unscathed, and we managed that. Tomorrow, we face a tough challenge. The Angliru is a monstrous climb, which I know well from my first Vuelta in 2020 and the 2023 edition. It’s an iconic climb, and I’ll do everything I can to try to win.” 

“We can look back on a successful day,” added sports director Jesper Mørkøv. “We had control in every area. In the peloton, the guys did excellent work for Jonas. With Victor, we were represented in the breakaway, in case Jonas needed him on or after the final climb. It’s great that Victor was able to reward his effort with a fourth-place finish.”