Visma dominates the sprint again: Brennan wins his third stage after Van Aert’s lead-out

Matthew Brennan continues to expand his impressive debut in a grand tour. The British rider from Visma-Lease a Bike has won the 11th stage of La Vuelta a España 2026, between Cartagena and Lorca, and now has three victories after once again taking advantage of a practically perfect lead-out from his team. Bryan Coquard finished second and Jordi Meeus completed the podium.

Matthew Brennan claims his third victory in La Vuelta with another perfect lead-out from Van Aert

Visma-Lease a Bike had made their intentions clear even before the stage began. The goal was to arrive at the sprint with Brennan, and the Dutch team worked for a good part of the 151.3 kilometers to keep the race under control.

The initial breakaway had little margin. Ethan Hayter, Domen Novak, Alessandro Covi, and Sinuhé Fernández were some of the riders who sought the spotlight, while Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis took on much of the work from the peloton, respectively thinking of Brennan and Bryan Coquard.

RECOMENDADO

Brennan is the man to beat again: La Vuelta 2026 stage 11 preview

Matthew Brennan wins again: his second victory in five stages of La Vuelta

Brennan claims his first Vuelta win after a Van Aert attack answered by Pogačar

GoPro survives and prepares for a new era: it will stick with cameras and enter new businesses

Lapierre confirms the end of its XCO team due to a lack of liquidity: Les Gets was its final race

The wind caused some splits midway through the stage, with Jarno Widar among the riders who were temporarily left behind, but the situation eventually regrouped. The main point of interest was reserved for the Alto de Aledo, located about 30 kilometers from the finish.

The climb, about 10 kilometers at 4.2%, turned out to be less selective than expected. Pinarello-Q36.5 increased the pace and some sprinters dropped off, but most of the top candidates for the sprint managed to stay in the main group.

Wout van Aert was again particularly active. The Belgian responded to several moves in the final part of the climb and ended up crossing the summit first to add three points in the mountain classification. Santiago Buitrago was second and continues to lead that jersey.

Earlier, Van Aert had also added 15 points in the intermediate sprint in Totana, further strengthening his position at the top of the points classification.

Van Aert and Laporte once again leave Brennan in a perfect position

After Aledo, the scene was practically set for the sprint. The attack attempts in the following kilometers did not manage to break the group's control, and Visma-Lease a Bike began to organize their lead-out train.

Bruno Armirail took on much of the work until the final kilometers, and then Christophe Laporte, Wout van Aert, and Matthew Brennan appeared.

The position was especially important because just 400 meters from the finish awaited a very tight almost 180-degree turn. Van Aert entered it from the first position with Brennan glued to his wheel, leaving the Brit exactly where he needed to be.

From there, there was no discussion.

Brennan launched the sprint and once again demonstrated that, in this type of finish, he is the fastest rider in La Vuelta. Bryan Coquard managed to stay relatively close, but could not surpass the Brit, while Jordi Meeus crossed the line in third position.

Magnus Cort was fourth and Van Aert himself, after making the lead-out, still had the strength to finish fifth.

For Brennan, this is already his third stage victory in La Vuelta 2026, after his wins in Manosque and Roquetes. An outstanding record for the young Brit in his debut in a grand tour.

The day was also marked by the absence of Mads Pedersen, who did not start after several days in which he had already acknowledged being far from his best level.

Top 10 stage 11 of La Vuelta a España 2026

1. Matthew Brennan (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) — 3:17:18
2. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) — +00
3. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) — +00
4. Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) — +00
5. Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) — +00
6. Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling Team) — +00
7. Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) — +00
8. Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana Team) — +00
9. Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) — +00
10. Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) — +00

Top 10 overall of La Vuelta a España 2026 after stage 11

1. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) — 35:59:02
2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) — +1:18
3. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) — +1:39
4. Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS) — +2:20
5. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) — +3:26
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +3:55
7. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) — +4:09
8. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) — +4:39
9. Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) — +7:33
10. Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) — +8:05