Van Aert enlivens stage 7, but Leknessund flies to victory in Valdelinares: Pogačar claws back more time on his rivals

Andreas Leknessund has won the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España 2026 after completing a long breakaway and being the strongest in the final climb to Aramón Valdelinares. Uno-X also completed a perfect day with Tobias Halland Johannessen in second place, while Wout van Aert finished third after being one of the main protagonists since the start. Behind, Tadej Pogačar once again demonstrated his superiority among the general classification contenders, gaining a few more seconds on Enric Mas and Felix Gall.

Leknessund completes a high-level breakaway in Valdelinares

The seventh stage of the Vuelta, spanning 149.8 kilometers between Vall d'Alba and Aramón Valdelinares, started at full speed with Wout van Aert as the first attacker of the day.

The Belgian broke away with Andreas Leknessund and Milan Vader, although the latter eventually dropped back. Later, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Alexey Lutsenko, and Eddie Dunbar joined, forming a group of five riders that became the decisive move of the day.

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Behind them, a much larger chase group formed, but the lack of cooperation allowed the five leaders to gradually increase their advantage. UAE Team Emirates-XRG also did not show the same interest as in previous days in controlling the pace for Pogačar, and the peloton lost nearly seven minutes.

Van Aert took advantage of the break to score points on several climbs and, above all, to win the intermediate sprint in Mora de Rubielos. The Belgian continued his fight for the green jersey while maintaining real chances of victory.

Leknessund breaks the breakaway in the final climb

The five arrived with enough margin to the decisive section. Van Aert was the first to summit the Puerto de San Rafael, but everything changed in the final climb to Aramón Valdelinares, which is 9.8 kilometers long at 5.9%.

On the steepest slopes, Van Aert began to suffer and initially had to let Lutsenko, Johannessen, and Leknessund go.

It was then that Leknessund launched the decisive move.

The Norwegian broke away solo about six kilometers from the finish and gradually opened up a gap. Van Aert managed to recover and caught up with Lutsenko alongside Johannessen, but he could never close the gap to the leader.

Uno-X also played their numerical superiority perfectly. Johannessen stayed on Van Aert's wheel while his teammate advanced towards victory.

Leknessund reached the final kilometer with enough margin and crossed the finish line in 3:49:47, achieving a high-level victory after being in the breakaway practically from the start.

Johannessen completed the Uno-X double at 34 seconds, while Van Aert finished third at 47 seconds after a very offensive day.

Pogačar drops Mas and Gall again

The battle for the general classification took place several minutes later. Decathlon CMA CGM toughened the final part of Valdelinares with several riders around Felix Gall. The Austrian launched his attack on the last slopes and managed to select the group of favorites. Pogačar responded without any problems.

Gall managed to break away from a good part of the group, but Enric Mas and Pogačar himself managed to stay with him. Shortly after, the UAE leader once again demonstrated that he had something more.

In the final meters, Pogačar accelerated while seated and left Mas and Gall behind, reaching the finish line 4:22 behind Leknessund. The differences were small, but enough to further reinforce his lead.

Mas remains second in the general classification, although he is now 3:50 behind, while Primož Roglič continues in third place at 4:50. Gall moves up to fourth place at 5:01.

The day was worse for Mattias Skjelmose, who lost time in the final climb and is now over seven minutes behind the leader.

Top 10 of stage 7 of La Vuelta 2026

1. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:49:47
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – +0:34
3. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) – +0:47
4. Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) – +0:58
5. Juan Felipe Rodríguez (EF Education-EasyPost) – +1:13
6. Iván Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma) – +1:16
7. Alexey Lutsenko (NSN Cycling Team) – +1:44
8. Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – +1:51
9. Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) – +1:53
10. Raúl García Pierna (Movistar Team) – +2:14

General classification after stage 7

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 19:32:37
2. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) – +3:50
3. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – +4:50
4. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) – +5:01
5. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) – +6:05
6. Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) – +6:06
7. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) – +6:12
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) – +7:17
9. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) – +7:46