Two weeks after his maiden Grand Tour stage win, on day 2 of La Vuelta 26, Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) showed no sign of slowing down as he powered to his fourth victory. After Manosque, Roquetes and Lorca, the British prodigy prevailed in La Rabida. Aged 21, he is the first Grand Tour debutant to win four stages since Fernando Gaviria in the Giro 2017. Making the most of another spectacular lead-out by Wout van Aert, Brennan got the better of Bryan Coquard (Codifis) and Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarché) after a fast-paced day through the wind. It’s also Visma-Lease a Bike’s sixth victory in this edition, with Van Aert’s successes in Loja and Cordoba last week. Stage 17 presents another opportunity for the sprinters ahead of three decisive days for the GC contenders of La Vuelta 26.
Into the last week of La Vuelta 26! Six stages remain on the way to Granada, with a couple of mountain showdowns, the ITT, and three flatter stages that should see baroudeurs and sprinteurs battle it out for the win. Today is the first of these: the 181.1 km route from Cortegana to La Rabida includes 2,250 metres of elevation gain, but that mostly comes from the rolling terrain in the first half of the stage, ahead of a flat run-in to the finish. There are no categorised climbs, but a bit of wind could throw the race upside down.
5 attackers vs Visma-Lease a Bike
As many attackers are afraid to miss on success at the eleventh hour, the pace is relentless from the start and it takes 14 kilometres for a 5-man break to establish with Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Emirates XRG), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ United), Simon Dalby (Uno-X Mobility), Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco AlUla) and Roland Thalmann (Tudor).
Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike set the pace in the bunch. The attackers cover 48 kilometres in the first hour, but that pace only gives them a gap of 2’45’’. The peloton accelerate on wind-exposed roads. The gap drops down to under two minutes before the final 100 kilometres, and under one minute with 60 kilometres to go to the lowest finish of La Vuelta 26, at eight metres above sea level.
No-one can resist the Van Aert - Brennan partnership
Into the final 50 kilometres, Bryan Coquard’s Cofidis and Jordi Meeus’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe start taking turns with Matthew Brennan’s Visma-Lease a Bike at the front of the peloton. The pace and the tension increase as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe up the ante and get back to the early attackers with 23.5 kilometres remaining. The peloton momentarily splits, with Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) among the riders off the back, but the stragglers get back 11 kilometres from the line.
Several trains move up to the front positions on wide roads, but nobody can contain Wout van Aert’s power inside the final kilometre. The Belgian star delivers another perfect lead-out for Brennan, who takes his fourth La Vuelta stage win ahead of Bryan Coquard and Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarché). The British prodigy is the first Grand Tour debutant with four victories since Fernando Gaviria in the Giro 2017. And stage 17 presents him another opportunity to win.
