Marco Brenner Takes First Grand Tour Victory at Sierra de la Pandera
JAÉN > SIERRA DE LA PANDERA (September 5, 2026) – At 24, Marco Brenner continued to come of age on the slopes of Sierra de la Pandera, taking his first Grand Tour stage victory and giving Tudor its first Grand Tour stage win. The young German emerged from a 44-rider breakaway after a fierce battle from the start in Jaén and held off some of the race’s strongest climbers to claim the biggest victory of his career.
Brenner had been touted as a wonderkid since turning professional at 20. The victory was the fourth of his professional career, with two of those wins coming in recent weeks. After taking the overall title at the Tour de Pologne in early August, he added a maiden Grand Tour stage victory at La Vuelta 26.
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), wearing the polka-dot jersey and coming off a third-place finish at Calar Alto, was second. Cristian Rodriguez (XDS Astana) finished third and moved into eighth overall.
Behind the breakaway, Enric Mas (Movistar) strengthened his grip on La Roja. Mas matched Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) in the finale, while Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) lost half a minute. Gall moved into second overall, 2:06 behind Mas and four seconds ahead of Roglic.
Another Big Breakaway
The 154.5-kilometre stage from Jaén to the summit of Sierra de la Pandera featured 4,338 metres of climbing, making it another major mountain showdown.
Following Jakob Omrzel’s victory at Calar Alto and Wout van Aert’s win in Loja, the opportunity to go for the stage win drew plenty of interest. After a series of attacks and counterattacks, 12 riders escaped at kilometer 21. Another 32 riders soon joined them to form a 44-rider breakaway.
Buitrago was again at the front, this time alongside Bahrain Victorious teammate Pello Bilbao. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), who had finished second on stage 13, also made the breakaway.
Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United) and Cristian Rodriguez were also in the move. Berthet had started the day 10th overall at 11:06, while Rodriguez was 11th at 11:10 after their presence in the breakaway to Loja.
Ivo Oliveira (UAE Emirates XRG) also made the breakaway on his birthday, repeating what he had done a year earlier on the way to L’Angliru. His teammate Joao Almeida, the winner that day, was also part of the move to Sierra de la Pandera.
Vermaerke Makes His Move
The breakaway established a five-minute advantage across the rolling terrain before reaching the first categorized climb, the category 2 Puerto de los Villares, whose summit came at kilometer 92.8. Buitrago led the breakaway over the summit while Movistar controlled the pace in the peloton.
Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Emirates XRG) attacked on the descent and continued his move onto the Puerto de Locution, another category 2 climb with its summit at kilometer 133.2.
Vermaerke opened a gap of up to 1:30 before Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) bridged across on the climb through Valdepeñas de Jaén with 15 kilometres remaining.
The German then faced the final climb to Sierra de la Pandera, 11.9 kilometres at an average gradient of 7.2% with sections reaching 17%.
Brenner Takes Control on La Pandera
Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ United) joined Steinhauser at the front with nine kilometres remaining. More climbers returned to the leaders as the decisive battle developed.
Mario Aparicio (Burgos Burpellet BH) attacked with five kilometres to go. Buitrago responded, caught and passed the Spaniard with 3.5 kilometres remaining.
A kilometre later, Brenner bridged across to Buitrago. Ivan Sosa (Kern Pharma) and Cristian Rodriguez then joined them, creating a four-rider lead group just before the final kilometre.
Buitrago launched his attack under the one-kilometre banner. Brenner responded immediately, and the two riders headed toward the finish together.
Brenner proved too strong in the two-man sprint, taking the stage victory and the biggest win of his career. Buitrago finished second, while Rodriguez took third.
The GC battle also intensified on the final climb. Mas attacked five kilometres from the summit, prompting a series of counterattacks before Gall made his move. Only Mas could follow.
The two riders gained 25 seconds on Roglic and 31 seconds on Carapaz. Gall consequently moved into second overall at 2:06 behind Mas, with Roglic four seconds further back.
Stage 14 Video Highlights:
Stage 14 Results:
| 1 | M. BRENNER | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 15′ 09” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | S. BUITRAGO | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 04h 15′ 10” | + 00h 00′ 01” | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | C. RODRIGUEZ | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 04h 15′ 20” | + 00h 00′ 11” | B : 8” | – |
| 4 | I. SOSA | EQUIPO KERN PHARMA | 04h 15′ 23” | + 00h 00′ 14” | – | – |
| 5 | V. PARET PEINTRE | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 04h 15′ 31” | + 00h 00′ 22” | – | – |
| 6 | C. BERTHET | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 04h 15′ 36” | + 00h 00′ 27” | B : 2” | – |
| 7 | J. NORDHAGEN | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 15′ 48” | + 00h 00′ 39” | – | – |
| 8 | F. ZANA | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 04h 15′ 52” | + 00h 00′ 43” | – | – |
| 9 | W. CALZONI | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 16′ 15” | + 00h 01′ 06” | – | – |
| 10 | J. ALMEIDA | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 16′ 18” | + 00h 01′ 09” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 14:
| 1 | E. MAS | MOVISTAR TEAM | 49h 28′ 12” | – | B : 22” | – |
| 2 | F. GALL | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 49h 30′ 18” | + 00h 02′ 06” | B : 8” | – |
| 3 | P. ROGLIC | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 49h 30′ 22” | + 00h 02′ 10” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | R. CARAPAZ | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 49h 32′ 36” | + 00h 04′ 24” | – | – |
| 5 | O. ONLEY | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 49h 33′ 56” | + 00h 05′ 44” | B : 10” | – |
| 6 | J. OMRZEL | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 49h 34′ 26” | + 00h 06′ 14” | B : 10” | – |
| 7 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 49h 35′ 01” | + 00h 06′ 49” | B : 2” | – |
| 8 | C. RODRIGUEZ | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 49h 35′ 13” | + 00h 07′ 01” | B : 12” | – |
| 9 | C. BERTHET | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 49h 35′ 31” | + 00h 07′ 19” | B : 2” | – |
| 10 | S. KUSS | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 49h 37′ 07” | + 00h 08′ 55” | – | – |
