7th September – Stage 15: Vegadeo – Monforte de Lemos
The last day of action before the final rest day threw up a parcours that looked ripe for a breakaway, with a challenging opening 90 kilometres before an easier final 70 kilometres of racing. As a result, it was a fierce fight to try and make the move with lots of attacks in the opening phase of the day. Gijs Leemreize made it into an initial attacking group before Bjorn Koerdt, Juan Martinez and Kevin Vermaerke bridged across in a counter-move. It meant Team Picnic PostNL had four riders in what would ultimately be the 46 rider breakaway.
Despite a chase for a while, the peloton eventually stopped and the gap completely expanded. That meant the tactical games were played out front and a duo went clear, building up a two minute 30 second advantage. The chase would come from behind and on the uncategorised climb after the intermediate sprint, the attacks flew from the group which was still one minute behind the leaders. Team Picnic PostNL rotated through the attacks, with Koerdt following a strong group approaching the crest. Unfortunately, he just had to let go of the wheels in sight of top and that group would go on to catch the leaders; ultimately battling out for the stage win.