Brennan Takes Third Stage Win of La Vuelta 26 in Lorca
Frustrated in Elche de la Sierra, Visma-Lease a Bike and Matthew Brennan found a new opening in Lorca, where the 21-year-old British sprinter claimed his third stage victory of La Vuelta 26.
Already the winner of stages 2 and 9, Brennan became the first rider to win three stages in his Grand Tour debut since Tadej Pogacar at La Vuelta 19. Among sprinters, he matched a feat not seen since Fernando Gaviria won three stages on his Grand Tour debut at the 2017 Giro d’Italia.
Brennan’s latest victory came after a fast and tactical finale. He outsprinted Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), the winner of stage 8 in Xeraco, while Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took third for his third top-three finish of the race.
The riders faced a very different challenge Thursday, with the road climbing toward a demanding mountain showdown at Calar Alto.
Another opportunity for the sprinters?
Stage 11 traveled 153.8 kilometers from Cartagena to Lorca. The route was essentially flat, with 1,350 meters of elevation gain, but the Alto de Aledo — 9.5 kilometers at an average gradient of 4.2% — provided an opportunity to disrupt the sprinters’ plans less than 30 kilometers from the finish.
The riders also had to keep an eye on the wind across the exposed roads of Murcia, an area with a rich cycling history that includes the region’s most famous rider, Alejandro Valverde.
An early four-man break
Alessandro Covi (Jayco AlUla), who won the Vuelta a Murcia in Cartagena in 2022, was among the first riders to attack. Domen Novak (UAE Emirates XRG) and Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) joined him, while Sinuhé Fernandez (Burgos Burpellet BH) quickly bridged across to make it a four-rider breakaway.
It was Fernandez’s fourth breakaway of La Vuelta 26.
Behind, Cofidis and Visma-Lease a Bike controlled the pace at the front of the peloton, just as they had the previous day. The rolling terrain and strength of the breakaway had made life difficult for the bunch on the way to Elche de la Sierra in stage 10, and the teams appeared determined not to give the early attackers much room.
The breakaway’s maximum advantage was only 1 minute, 45 seconds at kilometer 30.
Wind creates brief chaos
The peloton maintained a high pace, and Tudor, EF Education-EasyPost, Bahrain Victorious and XDS Astana increased the pressure as the race entered an exposed section.
The peloton briefly split, while the four breakaway riders were caught with 93 kilometers remaining. The action settled soon afterward, and the main group came back together.
Hayter attacked again with 75 kilometers to go, this time joined by Larry Warbasse (Tudor). The pair built an advantage of about 30 seconds, with Hayter taking the intermediate sprint before the two riders were caught on the day’s categorized climb, the Alto de Aledo. The third-category climb topped out at kilometer 121.8.
Brennan delivers again
Pinarello Q36.5 set a strong pace on the ascent. Green Points Jersey holder Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who had finished third in the intermediate sprint, reached the summit first.
His Visma-Lease a Bike teammates then drove the pace in the reduced peloton alongside Pinarello Q36.5 and Uno-X Mobility, with Ineos Grenadiers also joining the effort.
In the final kilometer, however, the Visma-Lease a Bike train powered to the front. Van Aert led Brennan through the final almost 180 degree corner and was delivered into position and produced another powerful sprint to take his third stage victory of La Vuelta 26. Once the duo rounded the corner, no one was even close to coming around. Van Aert held on for 5th place to maintain his Green Jersey.
He remarked:
“Let’s say I really want to win the green jersey. We’re halfway through the race andI remember from two years ago it can quickly change. We really try to focus on that. But of course also that year in some breakaways I was able to take points for the mountains jersey and on days like today where the points are there ‘for free’, I don’t hesitate to take them. Let’s say a 10-second sprint is always there in the legs. It was a shallow climb with high speeds. We went up really fast and because of that there was no breakaway anymore so I could use my explosivity to grab the points.
We hoped to go first and second in the last corner with Christophe [Laporte] bringing [Matthew Brennan and myself] there. I went pretty slow through the last corner, because I didn’t want to waste this opportunity. But from there on, I could hit the gas and bring Matthew up to speed. From my point of view, it looked like nobody was able to come around him, so that was a really good effort today. We had the plan to use me as last man because with the u-turn in the last 400 metres you know that a lead-out guy can finish close. Mission accomplished to grab some points there as well.”
Coquard finished second, with Meeus third.
For Brennan, the win continued a remarkable Grand Tour debut and gave Visma-Lease a Bike another reason to celebrate after the disappointment of the previous day’s finish in Elche de la Sierra.
Stage 11 Results:
| 1 | J. BRENNAN | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 03h 17′ 18” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | B. COQUARD | COFIDIS | 03h 17′ 18” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | J. MEEUS | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 03h 17′ 18” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | M. CORT NIELSEN | UNO-X MOBILITY | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
| 5 | W. VAN AERT | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 03h 17′ 18” | – | B : 2” | – |
| 6 | H. HOFSTETTER | NSN CYCLING TEAM | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
| 7 | B. TRONCHON | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
| 8 | A. ROMELE | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
| 9 | M. GOVEKAR | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
| 10 | O. AULAR SANABRIA | MOVISTAR TEAM | 03h 17′ 18” | – | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 11:
| 1 | E. MAS | MOVISTAR TEAM | 35h 59′ 02” | – | B : 22” | – |
| 2 | P. ROGLIC | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 36h 00′ 20” | + 00h 01′ 18” | B : 4” | – |
| 3 | F. GALL | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 36h 00′ 41” | + 00h 01′ 39” | B : 8” | – |
| 4 | O. ONLEY | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 36h 01′ 22” | + 00h 02′ 20” | B : 10” | – |
| 5 | R. CARAPAZ | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 36h 02′ 28” | + 00h 03′ 26” | – | – |
| 6 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 36h 02′ 57” | + 00h 03′ 55” | B : 2” | – |
| 7 | S. KUSS | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 36h 03′ 11” | + 00h 04′ 09” | – | – |
| 8 | H. TEJADA | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 36h 03′ 41” | + 00h 04′ 39” | – | – |
| 9 | G. Mühlberger | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 36h 06′ 35” | + 00h 07′ 33” | – | – |
| 10 | J. OMRZEL | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 36h 07′ 07” | + 00h 08′ 05” | – | – |
