Favorites stage 20 Vuelta a España 2025 | Brutal Bola del Mundo ensures the best is saved for last

We start on Saturday in Robledo da Chavela, where the riders will set off on a 165.6-kilometer route with over 4,220 meters of climbing. The first climbs come quickly, with the Alto de La Escondida (9 kilometers at 4.1%) and the Pietro de La Paradilla (5.8 kilometers at 5.4%) early in the opening phase.

After a slightly longer descent, the riders will head for the Alto del Léon. The climbs will only get tougher on Saturday, and this 7-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.3% is therefore classified as a second-category climb, unlike the first two climbs, which were third-category climbs.

A relatively long flat section will lead the riders to the Puerto de Navacerrada. This is a first-category climb, although it is not much more complex than its predecessor: 6.9 kilometers at an average gradient of 7.6%. It will be the penultimate climb of the 2025 Vuelta and the last warm-up before the grueling final climb, which the riders can already smell at the top of the Navacerrada.

The very last climb of this Tour of Spain is the extremely tough Bola del Mundo. This hors catégorie climb is a real killer, with a length of 12.3 kilometers and an average gradient of 8.6%. The first nine kilometers are in the opposite direction to earlier in the day, when the riders descended the Navacerrada climb.

Where the summit was earlier in the day, the riders will now turn right. That is where the grueling final kilometers to the Bola del Mundo begin, with sections of up to 20%. The riders will work their way up at a snail's pace, and anyone looking at the profile will see - especially in those final kilometers - a terrain that could lead to some significant differences.

Times
Start: 1 PM local time (07:00 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5:17 PM local time (11:17 AM EDT)

Fortunately, the weather will not be a decisive factor in this grand finale of the Vuelta. At the foot of the final climb, the temperature will rise to around 23 degrees Celsius, while the wind will blow slightly from behind in the final kilometers of the Bola del Mundo.

44 seconds: that is the lead that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) will defend on day twenty against his closest rival, João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), after a crafty acceleration at the intermediate sprint on Friday. The two leaders have so far appeared to be the best climbers in this Vuelta, so we expect them to be at the front again on Saturday. 

The battle for third place is quite exciting, with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) entering the decisive twentieth stage in third place. The Brit was even able to drop Vingegaard in the neutralized eleventh stage and showed perfect legs earlier this week with his second place on El Morredero.

The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe duo of Jai Hindley (fourth, 39 seconds behind) and Giulio Pellizzari (fifth, 1 minute and 40 seconds behind) will be eager to take that third place. The young Italian won stage seventeen on El Morredero, while his Australian teammate has been steadily climbing throughout the Vuelta. He finished third, behind Almeida and Vingegaard, on the Angliru.

Further down the rankings, riders will be hoping to gain some ground on Vingegaard and Almeida. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) took sixth place from Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) in Thursday's time trial, while the gap to number eight Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike) is already more than two minutes ahead of the Austrian.

Torstein Træen has been wearing the red jersey for a few days in this Vuelta and is still in ninth place, while Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) will go to the Bola del Mundo in tenth place. However, the American, along with his compatriot Kuss, will almost certainly not be given the freedom to go for their own success.

If a breakaway group is given the space, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) could try their luck from the breakaway.

Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) could still make it into the top 10 from the same breakaway, as they are currently eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

Top favorites: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG).
Outsiders: Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari (both Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Long shots: Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Egan Bernal(INEOS Grenadiers), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step)