Visma has the magic sprint formula: Van Aert leads out and Brennan finishes it off to claim his fourth La Vuelta victory

Matthew Brennan continues to expand his account in La Vuelta a España 2026. The British rider from Visma Lease a Bike has conquered stage 16 in La Rábida and now has four victories in this edition, after benefiting once again from a flawless lead-out by Wout van Aert. Bryan Coquard finished second, Vito Braet was third, and Jordi Meeus, fourth.

Matthew Brennan claims his fourth victory in La Vuelta 2026

The stage started with a breakaway of five riders formed by Kevin Vermaerke, Valentin Madouas, Simon Dalby, Jasha Sütterlin, and Roland Thalmann.

Visma Lease a Bike quickly took control and never let the gap widen too much. The breakaway reached around three minutes, but the broken first half of the course and the pace of the peloton always kept the situation under control.

After the intermediate sprint in Villarrasa, where Vermaerke passed first, the advantage began to fall definitively. Cofidis and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe also collaborated with Bryan Coquard and Jordi Meeus in mind.

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With 25 kilometers to go, shortly after a crash in the peloton involving Ivo Oliveira, the last escapees were neutralized.

Van Aert once again puts Brennan in the perfect position

The arrival towards La Rábida was marked by speed and wind. The peloton was traveling close to 60 km/h during the final kilometers, with several teams trying to gain positions for their sprinters.

Without Christophe Laporte in the race, Visma relied almost entirely on Wout van Aert for the final lead-out.

The Belgian found his place amid the chaos, brought Brennan onto his wheel, and accelerated at just the right moment. When the British rider came off his wheel, he was already perfectly positioned and proved once again that, in pure speed, he is the benchmark sprinter of this Vuelta.

Brennan quickly opened a clear gap and crossed the finish line without any of his rivals being able to seriously contest the victory.

Bryan Coquard finished second, while Vito Braet was one of the surprises of the day by securing third place. Jordi Meeus was fourth and Magnus Cort completed the top 5.

Van Aert, after making the lead-out, still had the strength to finish sixth and continue adding points towards a classification that is increasingly in his favor.

With this result, Brennan reaches four stage victories and Visma | Lease a Bike has now accumulated six wins in this Vuelta, four from the British rider and two from Van Aert.

Top 10 of stage 16 of La Vuelta a España 2026

1. Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike) — 3:56:33
2. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) — +00
3. Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarché) — +00
4. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) — +00
5. Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) — +00
6. Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) — +00
7. Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling Team) — +00
8. Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost) — +00
9. Alberto Dainese (Soudal Quick-Step) — +00
10. César Macías (Burgos Burpellet BH) — +00

For the general classification men, it was a day without significant changes. The wind created some moments of tension and small splits in the peloton, but there were no major movements among the favorites.

Enric Mas maintains the lead before a new day that, on paper, will again offer options to the sprinters in Seville.