Wout van Aert wins his first stage of the 2026 Vuelta

A first stage victory for the green jersey. Wout van Aert raised his arms for the first time on this 2026 edition of the Vuelta, Friday September 4, on the road to the 13th stage. After 192.8 kilometers of crossing between Almunecar and Loja, in the south of Spain, the Visma-Lease a bike rider overcame the Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) in a two-man sprint.

In a prestigious teammate position since the departure from Monaco, notably in Matthew Brennan's three victories (2nd, 5th and 11th stages), Wout van Aert this time had his chance to shine and he did not let it pass him by. Present in the early stages of the race, he spent the whole day at the front, first in the chasing group then in the lead after a junction a little less than 40 kilometers from the finish after a lot of work from Bruno Armirail.

In a strong position with his teammate Matthew Brennan, third at the finish, the Belgian placed a decisive attack four kilometers from the finish, only followed by Valentin Paret-Peintre. A specialist in this type of finish, Van Aert left “VPP” no chance in the sprint to achieve his 15th stage victory on a Grand Tour.

Van Aert imperial in the finale

“The plan today was to slip into the breakaway, it’s a stage that we could control, we knew it,” recalled the day’s winner after the finish. “With Bruno, we tried to stay on the wheels for a good part of the day to protect ourselves. We both had a chance with Matthew, we knew that at some point we would have to sacrifice one, and it worked.”

The Visma-Lease a bike team took the opportunity to claim their 4th success in this Vuelta, the 11th in the Grand Tour this season, a record. “The teamwork for Wout is almost stronger than my victories, hats off to him and the whole team,” greeted Brennan at the finish. The red jersey Enric Mas (Movistar) crossed the finish line in the heart of the peloton with more than three minutes behind the winner, not worried by his direct opponents. He is still 1'45'' ahead of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora) and 2'06'' over Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM).