Eddie Dunbar wins at Peñas Blancas and Mas shuts down Roglič’s attack

Eddie Dunbar has won stage 19 of the Vuelta a España 2026 with a spectacular finish at Peñas Blancas. The Irishman seemed beaten when Santiago Buitrago attacked within the last three kilometers, but he managed to return to the Colombian and surpass him less than a kilometer from the finish line. Among the favorites, Primož Roglič tried, but Enric Mas responded effortlessly and maintains his 1:37 lead intact.

Eddie Dunbar surprises Buitrago and wins at Peñas Blancas

The stage started at a very high pace. For many kilometers, attempts to break away followed one another, and the first hour was completed at 52 km/h, even though the race was already starting to find ascending terrain.

The situation did not stabilize until well into the day. Finally, a large group of 16 riders formed, including Santiago Buitrago, Eddie Dunbar, Thomas Gloag, Pablo Castrillo, Andreas Leknessund, Guillaume Martin, Urko Berrade, and Kevin Vermaerke, among others.

Movistar allowed the gap to grow, and the breakaway reached the approach to Peñas Blancas with enough margin to contest the victory. At the foot of the last climb, the 16 escapees had about seven and a half minutes over the peloton.

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Bahrain Victorious tried to take advantage of their numerical superiority to set up Buitrago, but Dunbar, Gloag, and Berrade managed to stay in the fight. The four arrived together at the final kilometers.

Dunbar overtakes Buitrago in a spectacular finish

Buitrago launched what seemed to be a decisive attack about 2.5 kilometers from the summit. The Colombian quickly opened a small gap, and at 1.5 km from the finish, Gloag was already losing about ten seconds. But Dunbar did not give up.

The Irishman began to regain ground and had Buitrago in sight when they entered the last kilometer. At about 700 meters, he was practically on top of the Colombian and shortly after managed to catch him.

Dunbar did not just wait. He went straight on the attack, left Buitrago behind, and raced towards victory at Peñas Blancas, also earning the combativity prize after being one of the most active riders during the day.

The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider crossed the finish line with 14 seconds over Buitrago and 23 over Thomas Gloag. Urko Berrade finished fourth at 44 seconds, and Marcel Camprubí completed a great day for Dunbar's team by finishing fifth.

Roglič attacks, but Mas responds effortlessly

Behind, the anticipated battle for the Vuelta ended up producing much fewer differences.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took the pace during part of Peñas Blancas, but later Movistar regained control without needing to impose a particularly aggressive pace.

Roglič waited until the last kilometer to attack. The Slovenian accelerated in one of the narrowest sections trying to test the leader, but Mas responded immediately. Gall, Onley, and Carapaz also managed to stay with them.

The main favorites finished with the same time, and the classification remains practically as it was before the stage began. Mas maintains 1:37 over Roglič and 3:01 over Gall.

Jakob Omrzel did manage to gain a few seconds in the final meters to consolidate his sixth position, while Mattias Skjelmose lost ground and dropped to ninth place.

Top 10 of stage 19 of the Vuelta a España 2026

1. Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) — 5:00:54
2. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) — +14
3. Thomas Gloag (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) — +23
4. Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) — +44
5. Marcel Camprubí (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) — +1:44
6. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) — +2:01
7. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ United) — +2:11
8. Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL) — +2:39
9. Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates XRG) — +3:03
10. Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) — +3:17 Texto pegado.txtTXT

Top 10 of the general classification after stage 19

1. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) — 65:52:03
2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) — +1:37
3. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) — +3:01
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) — +5:17
5. Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) — +6:03
6. Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) — +7:06
7. Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United) — +7:57
8. Cristián Rodríguez (XDS Astana Team) — +8:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +9:06
10. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) — +10:27

Enric Mas thus surpasses the first of the last two mountain stages without conceding a single second to Roglič. Everything now depends on stage 20, the last great opportunity for the Slovenian to try to turn around a general classification in which he remains 1:37 behind.