Egan Bernal won stage 16 of the Tour of Spain 2025: so it was, in video

Egan Bernal, winner of stage 16 of the Tour of Spain 2025.

Photo: Ineos

Egan Bernal smiled on European roads. The Colombian cyclist conquered his first stage victory in the Tour of Spain on a day marked by the controversy: the stage was mutually cut off in the absence of eight kilometers for the protests in favor of Palestine that blocked the goal.

The Ineos Grenadiers corridor was the strongest in an atypical ending, when the organization decided to neutralize the last kilometers and conclude the stage in the refraction that preceded the original goal.

There, Bernal won a hand in hand before Mikel Landa, making clear his great moment in the Iberian round.

Egan Bernal, awarded in the escape

The development of the race was intense from the beginning. The escape of the day was consolidated with 17 cyclists, including Bernal, Landa and Marc Soler. With the passage of the kilometers, the ramps and the speed were selecting the group until it was reduced to three protagonists: Bernal, Landa and the Frenchman Clément Braz.

Landa, faithful to his offensive style, launched an attack in the port of Da Groba that definitely selected the race. Bernal remained firm to his wheel and, after several Spanish attempts to release him, the Colombian responded strongly. Braz, who had endured until that moment, ended up giving meters in the final stretch for a mechanical problem.

The tension on the road was mixed with the voltage outside it. In the absence of just over two kilometers, access to the goal was unfeasible due to the presence of protesters and the police deployment. Given the impossibility of guaranteeing security, the organization decided to stop the stage eight kilometers before finishing and take the times there.

In that context, Bernal did not hesitate. He took advantage of the little repect to launch his sprint, overcome Landa and cross first under the makeshift banner. The gesture of celebration was sober, almost relief: finally he raised his arms again in a great round after everything lived after his accident in 2022.

Colombia and its rich history in the Tour of Spain

For Colombia, this triumph has a special value. Bernal joins the list of cyclists who have gained stage in the Tour of Spain, together with historical names such as Lucho Herrera, Fabio Parra, Santiago Botero, Nairo Quintana or Miguel Ángel López. The image of the winning Zipaquirer reinforces the Colombian tradition in the Iberian round.

The triumph also reopens the debate on the current state of Bernal. While it is far from fighting the general, victory returns it to the leading plane and presents it as a competitive cyclist capable of taking advantage of its opportunities.

Beyond sports, the stage will be remembered by social interruption. The protest in favor of Palestine, which forced to stop the race, generated a decaffeinated and unusual ending for a large one.

Egan Bernal, champion of the Italian turn in 2021 and the Tour de France in 2019, already appears in the history of the Vuelta.

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