Jay Vine achieves a new stage victory in La Vuelta, Torstein Træen is the new leader

First mountain stage in La Vuelta on the way to Andorra where the peloton let a high-level breakaway go, leaving, as it happened last year with Pablo Castrillo, an unexpected leader who, who knows, if it will be easy to dethrone in the figure of the Norwegian Torstein Træen.

First mountain stage without differences among the favorites and with Juan Ayuso out of contention

The sixth stage of La Vuelta 2025 meant the first serious contact with the mountain on a 170 km route that led from Olot to the Andorran station of Pal. A day with a tough initial part where the climbs to Collada de Sentigosa and Collada de Tosses were linked to descend to Cerdanya and, without leaving the national road, head in a long transition section to Andorra where a usual finish with the climbs to La Comella and the ski station of Pal were linked.

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Few differences in a team time trial won by UAE and in which Vingegaard has regained the lead

A stage marked by rain and cold in its initial part which caused the breakaway to form almost immediately, with 10 cyclists including names like Jay Vine, Louis Vervaeke, Pablo Castrillo, Bruno Armirail, or Lorenzo Fortunato as the most relevant. A breakaway that the peloton, led by Visma-Lease a Bike, let go, without much desire to keep the red jersey.

In fact, among the cyclists in the breakaway, Torstein Træen at just 58 seconds and Bruno Armirail at 1 minute and 2 seconds were more focused on taking the lead than on a stage victory as they saw the gap go above 5 minutes.

Upon reaching Andorra, the cyclists faced the climb to La Comella, with no movements until, already at the top, Jay Vine increased the pace and opened a small gap at the pass of the mountain. A gap that he managed to consolidate on the subsequent false flat and maintained on the twisty descent back to the valley despite the known technical deficiencies of this cyclist.

However, from there, Jay Vine only had to worry about his legs and they did not fail him, managing to open a ultimately decisive gap. With the start of the final climb to Pal, the attacks began in the chasing group by a determined Pablo Castrillo, who, however, did not achieve the desired effect. These movements wore down the group until the Norwegian from Bahrain-Victorious, Torstein Træen, saw his opportunity and, with a precise change of pace, went solo ahead, which, between the gap with the peloton and the bonus at the finish line, ensured him the red jersey at the end of the stage.

Passivity in the peloton until Lidl-Trek decided to put on the work overalls and put their men to work. A change of pace that revealed the weakness of Juan Ayuso, who, after a few kilometers at the back of the peloton, exploded, saying goodbye to any chance of competing in La Vuelta.

A move by Lidl-Trek that resulted in the predictable attack by Giulio Ciccone, to which Jonas Vingegaard responded without problems. However, the low difficulty of the final part of the climb to Pal meant that first Egan Bernal and Joao Almeida, and a little later riders like Felix Gall, Tom Pidcock, Matteo Jorgenson, or Sepp Kuss among others managed to reach the front, crossing the finish line without differences between them.

Træen remains with a two and a half minute advantage over Jonas Vingegaard, a climber who arrives in good form, with a 7th place in the general classification of Vuelta a Burgos, where he finished 4th in the arrival at Lagunas de Neila, as his last result before the start of La Vuelta. The Norwegian will have a tough test tomorrow in the stage that will feature the Aragonese Pyrenees, but it is not unlikely that he can hold onto the lead for a few stages.

Stage 6 Classification

1. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4h12'36''
2. Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) +54''
3. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) +1'10''
4. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +1'15''
5. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) +1'52''
6. James Shaw (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'05''
7. Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) +2'15''
8. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +2'19''
9. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'42''
10. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4'19''

General Classification

1. Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) 20h25'46''
2. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +31''
3. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) +1'01''
4. Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) +1'58''
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2'33''
6. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2'41''
7. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2'42''
8. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2'49''
9. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'53''
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'53''