Vuelta a Espana 2015: Winner, Prize Money, Final Standings After Stage 21 Result
Fabio Aru was never troubled during the final stage of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana, winning his first-ever Grand Tour in dominant fashion. John Degenkolb won Stage 21 in a bunch sprint on Sunday, as expected, but all the cameras turned to the 25-year-old Astana man, who will be one of the stars to watch in 2016.
Aru showed he's enough of a time trialist to not lose too much time in the standings and beat the likes of Tom Dumoulin in the high mountains, and with Vincenzo Nibali struggling in 2015, Astana may have a tough decision on their hands, choosing which Italian gets to lead the formation in next year's Tour de France.
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Here are the results from Sunday's stage:
| 1 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin | 02:34:13 |
| 2 | Danny van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing | Same Time |
| 3 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Bel) BMC Racing Team | Same Time |
| 4 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge | Same Time |
| 5 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal | Same Time |
| 6 | Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida | Same Time |
| 7 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx-QuickStep | Same Time |
| 8 | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka | Same Time |
| 9 | Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ | Same Time |
| 10 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | Same Time |
None of the top riders struggled on Sunday, with Joaquim Rodriguez and Rafal Majka cruising to a second- and third-place finish in the standings. Here's a look at those standings, complete with the prize money payout, per L'Equipe:
| 1 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 85:36:13 | €112.000 |
| 2 | Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha | 00:00:57 | €57.000 |
| 3 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo | 00:01:09 | €30.000 |
| 4 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar | 00:01:42 | €15.000 |
| 5 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge | 00:03:10 | €12.500 |
| 6 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin | 00:03:46 | €9.000 |
| 7 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar | 00:06:47 | €9.000 |
| 8 | Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky | 00:07:06 | €6.000 |
| 9 | Daniel Moreno (Spa) Katusha | 00:07:12 | €6.000 |
| 10 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka | 00:10:26 | €3.800 |
The final stage of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana was your typical cruise around a local circuit, providing the riders with few opportunities to break from the peloton and finish solo. With only the points classification still in doubt, the opening 20 kilometers were ridden at a slow pace, allowing Astana and Aru to sip some champagne and smile for the cameras.
This fan was kind enough to share a photo of the riders set to win the individual classifications together before the start of the race:
Of that group, the only one who had to be worried was Rodriguez, who led Alejandro Valverde by just two points in the points classification. With one intermediate sprint still in store, as well as the finish in Madrid, his compatriot had a prime opportunity to overtake Purito, particularly as Valverde is a superior sprinter.
He showed his ability early, winning the intermediate sprint, while Rodriguez was nowhere to be seen. Cycling commentator Jose Been confirmed that virtually put Valverde in the lead:
It was later revealed Purito missed the sprint with a puncture.
Once the intermediate sprint was out of the way, several riders tried to break from the peloton to avoid a bunch sprint. A group of six eventually managed to build a gap, including big names like Omar Fraile and Jose Joaquin Rojas.
The peloton never lost sight of the leaders, however, and with their lead never hovering above 30 seconds, a bunch sprint seemed inevitable. Team Giant-Alpecin and Trek Factory Racing kept the pace high, and a number of riders even dropped out of the peloton before the final laps.
Ben King tried to push the pace of the leading group and even tried to go solo, an idea he shared with Iljo Keisse. Etixx-Quick-Step reminded everyone he has some experience with these kinds of late breaks:
Entering the final round, the pace was incredibly high, and Keisse's solo effort didn't last long. A number of riders tried to steal the win with a late jump, but there was no escaping the clutches of the peloton.
There was little organisation in the peloton, so Degenkolb decided to launch his attack early, easily beating out his fellow sprinters.
Velovoices shared some comments from Aru and Dumoulin after the stage:
There's little doubt the Vuelta was the most exciting of the Grand Tours this year, and with Aru and Dumoulin establishing themselves as top talents for stage races, we could be in for an interesting winter. Dumoulin needs to be surrounded by better team-mates to have any chance of winning a general classification, so Giant-Alpecin may choose to open the checkbook to keep the Dutchman happy.
Meanwhile, Astana now have two talented Italians capable of winning a Grand Tour in Aru and Nibali, and while the former could be a huge help to the former if he decides to work as a super-domestique in the Tour de France, Aru may believe he should be the unquestioned leader after Nibali's disappointing 2015 campaign.
A system similar to the one Team Sky employed, where Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome worked for each other for a few years, could be an option, but that would only be a temporary solution. Either way, we should be in for an interesting winter.
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