August 4, 2026
La Vuelta a España is just around the corner and those looking to hone a bit of race form before the last Grand Tour of the year will do so in the Northern region of Castilla y León. The sprinters may find it difficult to get something out of this week because the course is set up for attacking racing and GC showdowns on stages 2, 3, and 5. As for the opening day, the riders will have 165 km from Gumiel de Izán to Burgos on roads that roll up and down all day but a large group should come to the finish together. There are no intermediate prizes until the bonus sprint in Villanueva de Argaño with 39.5 km to go. A small climb of the Alto del Aguilón comes 16 km from the finish but it's only 2.9 km at 3.3%. The real challenge for the stage win will be positioning coming into the narrow entrance of the Castillo de Burgos. The final kilometer rises at 6% and has proven selective enough in the past to dash the GC dreams of any caught too far out of position.
Highlighted Riders
Sprinters: Matthew Brennan, Laurence Pithie, Davide Donati, Alberto Dainese, Gleb Syritsa, Roger Adrià, Vincenzo Albanese, Vito Braet, Iúri Leitão, Emilien Jeannière
GC: Jay Vine, Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodríguez, Ben Tulett, Dani Martinez, Giulio Pellizzari, Felix Gall, Lorenzo Fortunato, Giulio Ciccone, Pello Bilbao, Afonso Eulálio, Enric Mas, Jarno Widar, Mattia Gaffuri, Abel Balderstone, Mathys Rondel, Iván Ramiro Sosa
Race Summary
After leaving Gumiel de Izán, the riders got underway with sunny and warm conditions of around 30C (86F). A good break of four went away early with Josh Burnett of Burgos Burpellet-BH, Valentin Ferron of Cofidis, Javier Ibáñez of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, and Unai Aznar of Euskatel Euskadi. With 70 km to go, they had just 1 minute 45 seconds on the peloton that was heavily controlled by Visma-Lease a Bike who had their hopes set on Matthew Brennan for the stage.
The landscape was quite striking as the race made its way North. There were dusty, brown fields as far up the road as one could see and almost almost no green to speak of. Large Castles atop rocky outcroppings and medieval churches would pop up in the distance and pass by as the bunch rolled across the plains towards Burgos. A constant stream of riders were going back to their cars to fill up on bottles and ice, all while Steven Kruijswijk of Visma-Lease a Bike pulled the bunch along at 50 km/hr on his own.
With 49 km to go, Kruijswijk got some help from Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe who sent Haimar Etxeberria to the front. Kruijswijk had things under control at 90 seconds but with the fresh legs of Etxeberria, 15 seconds was quickly trimmed off the gap. By the time Ibáñez rolled through to take the bonus sprint in Villanueva de Argaño with 39.5 km to go, the gap was at 1 minute and closing.
The race remained in a holding pattern at a 1 minute gap until the road started to drag upwards to the KOM in Aguilón. The gap came down to 30 seconds but the peloton went wide across the road as the teams waited for the final acceleration into Burgos. 300 meters from the top, Ferron went for the KOM points but it was too early and Aznar jumped over the top to take the prize and the Mountains Jersey for tomorrow.
Pace was completely out of the bunch on the climb and the gap increased to 40 seconds. Visma-Lease a Bike lined their entire team up on the front to keep the break within a safe distance. With 7.5 km remaining, Visma-Lease a Bike were joined by Lidl-Trek, Movistar, and Netcompany-Ineos at the front of the peloton. From 5 km to go, the road widened coming into Burgos and there was space for anyone with enough power to move up. The frantic nature of the run-in swallowed up the break with 1,500 meters to go as the bunch went full speed into the last kilometer. After leading all day, Visma-Lease a Bike completely disappeared from the front and it was a confused jumble of riders left at the front. Marc Brustenga of Equipo Kern Pharma went on the attack and led onto the cobbled streets of the Castillo with a 5 second lead inside the last few hundred meters. Ben Tulett of Visma-Lease a Bike moved forward with Brennan in the wheel and started to close the gap. Dylan Teuns of Cofidis made his bid for the line at 350 meters to go and hauled back Brustenga 100 meters later. Teuns continued forward with Tulett, Brennan, Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Léo Bisiaux and Jordan Labrosse of Decathlon CMA CGM, and Igor Arrieta of UAE-XRG in the wheel. Brennan launched with 100 meters to go and blew everyone away with just a few pedal revolutions. Tulett watched from ten bike lengths back as his teammate sailed across the line with arms outstretched wide for the victory. Tulett held off the rest to make it a Visma-Lease a Bike 1-2 with Pithie just behind for third on the day.
The majority of GC riders came across the line between 6 and 12 seconds down and still well placed for the days to come.