Wout van Aert finishes off a great breakaway in Loja to claim his first La Vuelta victory

Wout van Aert has finally secured the victory he was missing in this Vuelta a España 2026. The Belgian from Visma triumphed in stage 13, contested over 192.8 kilometers between Almuñécar and Loja, after spending practically the entire day on the attack and finishing the race with a move just a few kilometers from the finish line. Valentin Paret-Peintre was the only one able to follow him, but in the final showdown, he could not prevent the triumph of the green jersey.

 van Aert culminates a day of attacks with his first victory in La Vuelta 2026

The stage promised to be one of the best opportunities for stage hunters and it ended up following the script. The tough start turned the formation of the breakaway into a real battle and Wout van Aert was among the protagonists from very early on.

The first major filter came at the Alto de la Venta de la Cebada, 14 kilometers at 5.1%, where the race began to select itself and a large front group formed. Van Aert not only managed to get into it, but he also took the opportunity to keep adding points in a mountain classification that has become one of his secondary objectives.

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The Belgian crossed the summit of the Venta de la Cebada first and added the 10 points of the first category, ahead of Santiago Buitrago. The leader of the points classification is also accumulating a significant amount of mountain points thanks to his constant presence in breakaways.

The breakaway exceeded 40 riders and included important names such as Matthew Brennan, Mattias Skjelmose, Jarno Widar, Finn Fisher-Black, Léo Bisiaux, Axel Laurance, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Andreas Leknessund, Kevin Vermaerke, and Lorenzo Fortunato.

Precisely the presence of Skjelmose, seventh in the general classification at the start of the stage, forced Movistar to maintain some control from the peloton. EF Education-EasyPost also collaborated to prevent the Dane from threatening Richard Carapaz's position too much.

The race ended up fragmenting into different groups and, as the last climb of the day approached, the situation began to clearly favor the attackers.

Van Aert moves on the Puerto de Granada

The Puerto de Granada, 7 kilometers at 5.6%, was supposed to make the final big selection and it did. The head of the race was initially formed by a small group with riders like Kevin Vermaerke, Matthew Brennan, Léo Bisiaux, Clément Berthet, Guillaume Martin, Andreas Kron, Andreas Leknessund, Vincenzo Albanese, and Cristian Rodríguez.

Van Aert had been in a second group, but he began to cut the gap on the slopes of the last climb. The Belgian accelerated accompanied by riders like Jarno Widar and Finn Fisher-Black and ended up connecting with the front just before the summit.

From there, there were more than 30 kilometers to Loja, much of it downhill or on favorable terrain. The presence of Van Aert and Brennan gave Visma a privileged tactical position. And the two did not just wait.

Brennan attacked on the descent, Van Aert repeatedly increased the pace, and the continuous accelerations ultimately selected a final lead group of nine riders: Van Aert, Brennan, Fisher-Black, Vermaerke, Bisiaux, Paret-Peintre, Simon Dalby, Albanese, and Widar. Behind, there was no longer enough understanding to return.

Van Aert waits for the right moment and Paret-Peintre is the only one who can follow him

Visma had two of the fastest riders in the group and that superiority forced the others to attack. Brennan took on much of the work of controlling the moves during the last kilometers, leaving Van Aert increasingly free for the finish. The Belgian waited until about three kilometers to go.

Then he launched a much more forceful acceleration and only Valentin Paret-Peintre managed to hold onto his wheel. An unusual combination for a practically flat finish: one of the most powerful cyclists in the peloton accompanied by a pure climber.

Paret-Peintre did his best to collaborate, but he was reaching his limit. Van Aert had to take on most of the work until entering the last kilometer, also aware that any return from the chasing group could complicate a victory that was very close.

The Frenchman tried to surprise him in the sprint and even momentarily got ahead, but Van Aert responded immediately. With several pedal strokes, he regained his position and crossed the finish line as the winner.

WOUT GETS HIS WIN!

Wout van Aert takes the win on Stage 13 of La Vuelta! pic.twitter.com/MrYY1xTmWF

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) September 4, 2026

After being close on several occasions and also working for Matthew Brennan's three stage victories, Wout van Aert finally achieved his first triumph in this Vuelta a España 2026.

Brennan also completed another great day for Visma by winning the sprint of the chasing group and finishing third, 24 seconds behind. Jarno Widar was very close to surpassing him and finished fourth, once again confirming his remarkable performance in his first Vuelta.

Top 10 of stage 13 of La Vuelta a España 2026

Enric Mas retains the red jersey and Skjelmose recovers more than two minutes in stage 13

While the victory was being resolved up front, Enric Mas and the main contenders for the general classification arrived together within a small group of favorites. The stage did not produce direct differences between Mas, Primož Roglič, Felix Gall, Richard Carapaz, or Oscar Onley.

The important movement in the general classification came from the breakaway. Mattias Skjelmose took advantage of his presence up front to recover 2:10 and move from seventh to seventh place but getting significantly closer to the men ahead of him, now remaining 5:32 behind Mas.

There were also changes further down. Gregor Mühlberger, who started the day in ninth and was one of Felix Gall's main supports, abandoned after suffering a fall, allowing Clément Berthet to enter the Top 10.

Enric Mas will thus arrive at the decisive stage of the Sierra de la Pandera maintaining 1:45 over Primož Roglič and 2:06 over Felix Gall.

Top 10 of the general classification after stage 13 of the Vuelta 2026