August 6, 2026
The days have been getting progressively harder and it crescendos today with the 184 km Queen stage from Espinosa de los Monteros to Balneario de Corconte. In the first 140 km, there are six category three climbs that are situated high on the Castilian plateau system. A bonus sprint comes before the last of the category three climbs at 62km to go in the town of Espinosa de los Monteros but they have been non-factors in the GC race so far. When the riders crest the Puerto Estacas de Trueba, the last category three climb, they will have a 14 km descent off the plateau from 1,200 meters above sea level all the way down to Entrambasmestas at 200 meters. The course turns away from the Pas River to follow the Magdalena River upstream to La Puente where the major test of the day lies. Starting with 11.5 km to go in the stage, the 7 km, 9% climb of the Puerto del Escudo rises up into the Cantabrian mountains as an Especiale climb. A short descent from the top brings the race through a forest and to the banks of the Ebro River reservoir and the finish line. There is one more GC day this week but today will be a very important step towards crowning the overall winner at the end of the week.
Race Summary
A cloudy start gave way to aggressive racing when the flag dropped at KM0. It took more than 30 km but a group got away that included Bastien Tronchon of Groupama-FDJ United, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Valentin Retailleau of TotalEnergies, Gorka Corres of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Iker Mintegi of Euskatel-Euskadi, and Diego Uriarte of Equipo Kern Pharma. Their maximum lead was 3 minutes but the peloton closed to within 1 minute and more riders jumped across. Pavel Sivakov of UAE-XRG, Milan Vader of Pinarello Q36.5, and Jasper Schoofs of Soudal Quickstep were the ones to bridge to the break to make eight up front after Retailleau was dropped and back in the peloton. When live coverage began with 57 km to go on the gentle slopes of the Puerto Estacas de Trueba, the leaders had 2 minutes 20 seconds on the peloton with Netcompany-Ineos and Lidl-Trek working to keep the race in check.
The Puerto Estacas de Trueba was 11 km long at 3% which made it more a drag than a climb as it traced the Trueba River upstream through green forests and into the mist of higher elevations. When Uriarte led the group over the top with 44.5 km to go to start the technical descent through dense fog, the gap was down to 1 minute 55 seconds. EF-Education EasyPost, Movistar, and Decathlon CMA CGM had all pushed forward to keep their leaders in good position for the descent. A bit of rain had dampened the surface and the bunch took to the downhill with minimal risk.
Once the descent flattened out and the peloton was able to regroup through the village of Vega de Pas, the gap was down to 1 minute 20 seconds and Netcompany-Ineos took back control of the chase. Lidl-Trek pitched in once more which increased the speed to well over 50 km/hr down the Pas River valley. When the peloton made the turn in Entrambasmestas, the gap was down to 40 seconds. Sivakov used the dragging incline to push on and drop the weaker riders in the group. With 15 km to go, he had increased the gap to 50 seconds and only had Burgaudeau, Mintegi, Schoofs, and Vader left for company.
The fight for position into the base of the Puerto del Escudo intensified and even though the group was strong up front, they were no match for riders in the peloton who were burying themselves and peeling off. In the first kilometer, the gradients slowly ramped up to 9%. The catch was made with 10 km to go as Netcompany-Ineos and Decathlon CMA CGM competed for supremacy at the front. Lidl-Trek took over 1 km later and had the horsepower with Julien Bernard to string the peloton down and thin it out.
The first attack from the peloton came from Giulio Ciccone when the last of his Lidl-Trek teammates pulled to the side with just under 8 km to go. Oscar Onley of Netcompany-Ineos was quick to respond but there were many others still attached. The road flattened momentarily and Ciccone looked around to see who was still there. Pablo Torres of UAE-XRG kept the power down and and flew passed Ciccone while the favorites looked around at each other. Gradients pitched back up and Decathlon CMA CGM found the resources to organize. Torres was kept at just a handful of seconds and when the time came, Felix Gall was set free and the Austrian attacked. Torres was quickly caught and the only ones to match Gall's acceleration were Ciccone, Onley, and Enric Mas of Movistar. Torres latched on to the back for a few moments before he was distanced. A bit of looking around once again allowed Torres to get back on before Ciccone went to the front to set a more steady rhythm.
Just inside 5 km to go and 1.7 km from the summit, Gall put in another big dig. Torres was popped for good while Mas stayed within himself and dangled just off the back. Onley was next to put in an attack 500 meters later which proved to be more decisive. Ciccone dropped away leaving just Gall and Onley together at the front as they ascended into the mist and fog. Around 500 meters from the top, Gall took a deep breath, revved his cadence and hit Onley with a everything he had. The Scot tried to get back on terms but Gall had flown the coop and disappeared up the road.
Gall started the descent with 4 km to go but it was impossible to know how far back Onley was due to the conditions. The motor bikes were able to link up with the riders to give us accurate time gaps at 1,500 meters to go. Onley was alone at 11 seconds behind Gall with group three consisting of Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe at 20 seconds. Inside the last kilometer, the camera panned backwards and all three groups were in shot. Gall looked safe but Onley was about to be caught by the Ciccone and Pellizzari. Gall pressed the entire way to the line to preserve as much of his lead as possible and only celebrated once his front wheel crossed the line. Onley was only caught at 75 meters to go by Ciccone who had opened his sprint and went passed for second place on the day, stopping the clock at 11 seconds from Gall. Pellizzari pipped Onley on the line for third place to take the last of the bonus seconds but they were able to hold close enough to Ciccone to finish also on 11 seconds.
Gall now owns the race lead by 6 seconds to Ciccone and 8 seconds to Onley. Ten riders are still within 1 minute and with plenty of difficult terrain still ahead, the race is certainly not over.