Marco Brenner surprisingly wins the 14th stage of the Vuelta

Marco Brenner spread his arms and celebrated the greatest success of his career at an altitude of 1,800 meters. The German youngster surprisingly took victory at the mountain finish in Sierra de la Pandera on the 14th stage of the Vuelta. The 24-year-old Brenner, who is only riding his third Grand Tour, secured the first German stage victory on the Tour of Spain since Lennard Kämna three years ago.

Brenner, who was part of a large breakaway group, gave the Colombian Santiago Buitrago no chance after 154.5 kilometers in the uphill sprint. The former German champion only made people sit up and take notice in August when he surprisingly won the Tour of Poland.

"I can't believe it. I became a professional cyclist for days like this. There aren’t many riders who win a stage in a Grand Tour,” said Brenner.

Mas expands leadership

The Spaniard Enric Mas successfully defended the red jersey for first place overall. The 31-year-old, who reached the finish 4:12 minutes behind Brenner, was even able to extend his lead. The previous overall runner-up, Primoz Roglic, lost another 25 seconds and slipped to third place in the overall standings behind the Austrian Felix Gall. Mas is now 2:06 minutes ahead of Gall.

Since five-time Tour champion Tadej Pogacar had to retire after a serious crash a week ago, the Tour of Spain has become an open race. Mas, who for a long time failed to fulfill Spanish tour hopes, could still achieve his first major victory. At the Vuelta he had already finished second three times and third overall once.

There shouldn't be any big changes at the top of the overall standings on Sunday. The 15th stage from Palma de Rio to Cordoba, which was supposed to last 189.7 kilometers, was shortened to 110.2 kilometers due to expected temperatures of over 40 degrees. It's probably more of a thing for outliers.