April 18, 2026
The peloton have the hardest day of the five stages behind them but today is one final GC test with a summit finish atop Monte Trega. The first 70 km of the 154 km stage follows the Minho River downstream, parallel with the Portuguese border, to A Guarda and the Atlantic coast. The route joins a circuit and turns North to Oia then inland to find the Alto da Valga, a 5 km climb at 7.7%. The riders will crest with 66 km to go, then take another lap of the circuit to summit the Valga at 25 km to go. After the descent into A Guarda, the race will turn South for the summit finish and the conclusion of O Gran Camiño with the 3.6 km, 7.6% climb of Monte Trega. Adam Yates likely has the overall buttoned up but second through fifth is separated by just 30 seconds which is most certainly close enough to see changes of the final podium.
Race Summary
The Albariño grape leaves lining the road at KM 0 were quivering from the gentle breeze as the riders set off from the famous wine making region of Rías Baixas. When live coverage began, there was a group of six leading the race that included Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma, Gorka Sorarrain of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Sinuhé Fernández of Burgos-Burpellet BH, Rafael Reis of Anicolor-Campicarn, Nadav Raisberg of NSN Cycling, and Carlos Miguel Salgueiro of Tavira-Crédito Agrícola. With 69 km to go and about half of the first ascent of Alto da Valga to come, the break were 1 minute 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. By the top, Uriarte, Sorarrain, and Fernández had gone clear of the rest but Movistar were riding quite hard and the gap was down to just 1 minute.
Movistar continued chasing and, as the descent leveled out and the bunch arrived back in A Guarda along the rocky coast, the gap was down to around 40 seconds. The gap extended slightly as the race turned North, gently twisting around the headland, before finally turning inland through Oia and passed the monastery with 30.5 km to go. The road immediately started to rise as the bunch began the second ascent of the Alto da Valga. NSN Cycling took control of the pace and rode an aggressive first few kilometers of the climb. When the last man pulled off, George Bennett went on the attack to employ the same tactic as yesterday. Visma-Lease a Bike tried to come across but Bennett was able to break the elastic and go alone. Bennett was quickly over to the three remaining members of the break and dropped all three with 2 km to climb.
There was little to no control in the peloton which still numbered around 25 riders. UAE-XRG had run out of helpers for Adam Yates who had to keep a close eye on who was moving. Jan Castellon of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA was next to get some distance on the peloton but Visma-Lease a Bike had one rider left for Jørgen Nordhagen who decided to set a controlling pace. By the top with 25 km to go, Bennett had about 20 seconds on the favorites group with Castellon just behind. Castellon was able to link up with Bennett before the proper descent began but Visma-Lease a Bike were still pulling hard on the pedaling descent and the race was back together with 22 km to go.
The group swelled on the descent to around 40 riders. With 13 km to go on the rolling roads back towards A Guarda, Castellon went on the move again to get a head start before Monte Trega. He built a lead of 30 seconds but Movistar and Visma-Lease a Bike charged into the void as the climb approached. Instead of turning right like on previous laps, the bunch turned left to start the final climb up Monte Trega. Castellon was caught 400 meters into the climb as Kevin Vermaerke of UAE-XRG went to the front to do his last bit of work. Vermaerke pulled off with 2.5 km to go and was replaced by Burgos-Burpellet BH. The group was still 20 riders as they twisted their way up the climb with the stunning ocean views behind them.
Just over 2 km to go, Yates struck out and pulled the main favorites with him. Nordhagen followed with Iván Romeo of Movistar and Alessandro Pinarello of NSN Cycling tagging on for the ride. A gap formed to Abel Balderstone of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA as Yates tried to ride the group off his wheel. Yates never looked back and led the group of four into the last 600 meters. They turned onto a steep cobbled road which looked more like Flanders than Galicia. Pinarello moved up and into the lead with 400 meters to go as the cobbles turned to paving stones then back to smooth tarmac. Pinarello kept the speed high and was able to accelerate one last time at 150 meters from the line. Romeo lost contact and a gap opened to Yates in second position. Nordhagen tried to sprint passed Yates to get back to Pinarello but the line came too soon and Pinarello posted up in celebration of his first professional win. Nordhagen took second on the line with Yates in third and Romeo in fourth at 6 seconds.
Yates went out the winner overall by 32 seconds to Nordhagen and 48 seconds to Pinarello who had a coming of age week in Spain with a third overall and a stage win.