Brennan Powers to Fourth La Vuelta Victory
CORTEGANA > LA RÁBIDA, PALOS DE LA FRONTERA (September 8, 2026) – Two weeks after claiming his maiden Grand Tour stage victory on Stage 2, Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) showed no sign of slowing down, powering to his fourth victory of La Vuelta 26. After wins in Manosque, Roquetes and Lorca, the 21-year-old British sprinter prevailed in La Rábida following a fast-paced stage through the wind.
Brennan became the first Grand Tour debutant to win four stages since Fernando Gaviria accomplished the feat at the 2017 Giro d’Italia. Once again benefiting from a spectacular lead-out by Wout van Aert, Brennan edged Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarché) in the sprint.
On the leadout, Wout said,
“Today actually, the whole day I tried to guide Matthew [Brennan] to be in a good position because there were some open parts where we could expect GC teams trying what we saw in the end with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
So basically, he was always in my pocket. Then we tried to position ourselves very well for the roundabout at 1 k to go. We had a lot of help from the team until that point, and we had the plan to only go together in the last straight line. I looked for open spots so I could launch my sprint when it was needed. It was still early but I think Matthew could start sprinting at the perfect moment.
Of course, we’ll try again tomorrow and with all the opportunities that are left in the last week. Seven stage wins is something that happens very rarely. We are very proud with six already, but with the legs and the team spirit we have, we keep trying.”
The victory was Visma-Lease a Bike’s sixth stage win of La Vuelta 26, with Van Aert having already won stages in Loja and Córdoba. Stage 17 offered the sprinters another opportunity before three decisive days for the general classification contenders.
Five Attackers vs. Visma-Lease a Bike
The pace was relentless from the start as riders looked for an opportunity in the final week of La Vuelta. It took 14 kilometers for a five-rider breakaway 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) moving clear.
Visma-Lease a Bike immediately took control of the peloton. The breakaway covered 48 kilometers in the opening hour but gained only 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
The peloton accelerated on the wind-exposed roads, bringing the gap below two minutes before the final 100 kilometers and below one minute with 60 kilometers remaining. The race was heading toward its lowest finish of La Vuelta 26, at eight meters above sea level.
Van Aert and Brennan Delivered Again
Inside the final 50 kilometers, Coquard’s Cofidis and Jordi Meeus’ Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe joined Visma-Lease a Bike at the front of the peloton. The pace and tension increased as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe raised the speed and the peloton caught the early breakaway with 23.5 kilometers remaining.
The acceleration briefly split the peloton, with Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) among the riders caught behind. The stragglers managed to return to the main group with 11 kilometers remaining.
Several sprint trains moved toward the front on the wide roads, but Van Aert again proved decisive inside the final kilometer. The Belgian delivered another powerful lead-out for Brennan, who opened his sprint and held off Coquard and Braet.
Brennan’s fourth stage victory made him the first Grand Tour debutant with four stage wins since Gaviria at the 2017 Giro d’Italia. With another sprint opportunity awaiting on Stage 17, the British rider had another chance to add to his remarkable debut.
Brennan is already looking forward to the 2027 Tour de France:
“The emotion is still the same. It’s unbelievable: four victories here the plan was for one! As a team, we’re now on six, I think… I’ve lost count, we’ve won so many! The stages that we’ve won, we’ve really committed to the plan that we had. You’ve seen the boys all day today, they’ve just been pushing so much wind. To finish it off like that, with Wout [van Aert] bringing me to the line in a perfect place in such a chaotic finale, it was perfect. I don’t really think you can compete [with Van Aert as a lead-out man]. It was a shame that we lost Christophe [Laporte], but it’s still unbelievable what we can do even when we’re a man down. I really trusted Wout and followed his wheel all the way. It’s incredible that he can bring me in such perfect position in such a chaotic race.”
The last rider to win four stages in his Grand Tour debut was Fernando Gaviria in 2017, and he won the opening stage of the Tour de France the next year. “The Tour starts in UK next year, and I already said to the team two years ago now, when I heard about a UK start, I’d really like to be there on start line and to have guys like Wout and Christophe there also. We can really try to replicate what we do here into a Yellow Jersey on day 1.”
Jerseys:
- Red Jersey — General Classification: Enric Mas (Movistar)
- Green Jersey — Points Classification: Wout van Aert (Team Visma–Lease a Bike)
- Polka-Dot Jersey — Mountains Classification: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
- White Jersey — Young Rider Classification: Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos)
- Team Classification: Decathlon CMA CGM Team
- Most Combative Rider: Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
- Stage Winner: Matthew Brennan (Team Visma–Lease a Bike)
Stage 16 Results:
| 1 | J. BRENNAN | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 03h 56′ 33” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | B. COQUARD | COFIDIS | 03h 56′ 33” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | V. BRAET | LOTTO INTERMARCHE | 03h 56′ 33” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | J. MEEUS | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 5 | M. CORT NIELSEN | UNO-X MOBILITY | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 6 | W. VAN AERT | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 7 | H. HOFSTETTER | NSN CYCLING TEAM | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 8 | V. ALBANESE | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 9 | A. DAINESE | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
| 10 | C. MACIAS ESTRADA | BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH | 03h 56′ 33” | – | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 16:
| 1 | E. MAS | MOVISTAR TEAM | 56h 02′ 29” | – | B : 22” | – |
| 2 | F. GALL | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 56h 04′ 35” | + 00h 02′ 06” | B : 8” | – |
| 3 | P. ROGLIC | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 56h 04′ 39” | + 00h 02′ 10” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | R. CARAPAZ | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 56h 06′ 53” | + 00h 04′ 24” | – | – |
| 5 | O. ONLEY | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 56h 08′ 13” | + 00h 05′ 44” | B : 10” | – |
| 6 | J. OMRZEL | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 56h 08′ 43” | + 00h 06′ 14” | B : 10” | – |
| 7 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 56h 09′ 18” | + 00h 06′ 49” | B : 2” | – |
| 8 | C. RODRIGUEZ | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 56h 09′ 30” | + 00h 07′ 01” | B : 12” | – |
| 9 | C. BERTHET | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 56h 09′ 48” | + 00h 07′ 19” | B : 2” | – |
| 10 | S. KUSS | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 56h 11′ 24” | + 00h 08′ 55” | – | – |
