Monaco > Manosque (August 23, 2026) – Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) claimed his first Grand Tour victory and his first La Vuelta stage win with a powerful sprint in Manosque.
Making his La Vuelta debut, the 21-year-old British sprinter wasted no time demonstrating his ability, leaving his rivals several bike lengths behind in the uphill sprint at the end of the 202.1-kilometer stage. Brennan survived a long, hilly day that featured 3,020 meters of climbing before getting the better of Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious) and Tadej Pogacar(UAE Emirates XRG), who was part of the front group in the uphill finale.
Pogacar, who had won the opening individual time trial by 9/100ths of a second, first faced a threat from Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), who moved closer to the overall lead by collecting bonus seconds during the stage. Pogacar then responded to a powerful attack by Wout van Aert with 2 kilometers remaining. The Slovenian ultimately finished third, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), while Hayter was dropped in the finale.
The peloton left Monaco and headed into France for a rolling stage that featured numerous climbs and a slightly uphill finish. Versatile sprinters such as Pedersen, who had previously won in Manosque, faced the challenge of surviving the day’s climbs before contesting the victory. Van Aert also had an opportunity to take La Roja, trailing Pogacar by nine seconds entering the stage.
Hayter joined the early move
Koen Bouwman (Jayco AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) were the first riders to attack and establish a gap. Hayter, who began the stage second overall, quickly set off in pursuit and joined the leaders. Sinuhé Fernandez (Burgos Burpellet BH) then bridged across to form a four-rider breakaway.
Visma-Lease a Bike quickly moved to the front of the peloton to protect Van Aert’s opportunity to take La Roja. Because Hayter was tied with Pogacar on time, moving into one of the first three positions at the bonus sprint at kilometer 166.2 would have put him more than 10 seconds ahead of Pogacar in the virtual overall standings.
Highlight Video:
Hayter moved closer to La Roja
Lidl-Trek also contributed to the chase, and the gap settled at about two minutes. Bouwman, the 2022 Giro d’Italia King of the Mountains winner, beat Uriarte over the category 3 climbs of Châteauneuf-Grasse at kilometer 33.2 and Col de Saint-Andrieu at kilometer 92.4, putting himself in position to secure the polka dot jersey.
As the break approached the bonus sprint at Gréoux-les-Bains at kilometer 166.2, Visma-Lease a Bike increased the pace. The gap fell below 12 seconds with 15 kilometers remaining before the sprint.
Hayter attacked, dropped his breakaway companions and held on to the line to collect six bonus seconds. Van Aert took second for four seconds. With Hayter now having gained ground, only Pogacar could prevent him from moving to the top of the overall standings if both finished the stage in the same time as the winner.
Van Aert attacked, Brennan finished it
Hayter was caught by the peloton a few kilometers later. The bunch raced toward Manosque, with Visma-Lease a Bike continuing to push the pace in preparation for the uphill finish.
Van Aert attacked with 2 kilometers remaining. Pogacar followed the Belgian, while Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) bridged across beneath the final-kilometer banner. The peloton was close behind, however, and the trio was quickly caught.
As Van Aert was reeled in, Brennan launched his sprint. Pedersen tried to stay with him but faded as the young British sprinter powered away to his first La Vuelta stage victory in his Grand Tour debut.
Miquel and Pogacar followed to complete the stage podium as the peloton splintered. About 40 riders finished in the same time as Brennan. Hayter was not among them, finishing 80th, 31 seconds behind the winner.
Pogacar retained La Roja with a nine-second advantage over Van Aert, while Brennan moved into third overall, 10 seconds behind the Slovenian.
On Monday, Pogacar will defend La Roja on the first mountain stage of the race, which will finish at Font-Romeu.
Stage 2 Results:
| 1 | J. BRENNAN | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 47′ 47” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | P. MIQUEL DELGADO | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 04h 47′ 47” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 47′ 47” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | M. PEDERSEN | LIDL-TREK | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 5 | H. HOFSTETTER | NSN CYCLING TEAM | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 6 | T. JOHANNESSEN | UNO-X MOBILITY | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 7 | F. FISHER – BLACK | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 8 | A. LAURANCE | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 9 | O. ONLEY | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
| 10 | O. AULAR SANABRIA | MOVISTAR TEAM | 04h 47′ 47” | – | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 2:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 58′ 40” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 2 | W. VAN AERT | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 58′ 49” | + 00h 00′ 09” | B : 4” | – |
| 3 | J. BRENNAN | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 58′ 50” | + 00h 00′ 10” | B : 10” | – |
| 4 | L. BISIAUX | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 04h 58′ 52” | + 00h 00′ 12” | – | – |
| 5 | F. FISHER – BLACK | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 58′ 54” | + 00h 00′ 14” | – | – |
| 6 | S. KÜNG | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 58′ 58” | + 00h 00′ 18” | – | – |
| 7 | J. VINE | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 58′ 58” | + 00h 00′ 18” | – | – |
| 8 | M. PEDERSEN | LIDL-TREK | 04h 59′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 20” | – | – |
| 9 | P. ROGLIC | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 59′ 06” | + 00h 00′ 26” | – | – |
| 10 | J. LABROSSE | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 04h 59′ 07” | + 00h 00′ 27” | – | – |
