August 7, 2026
The penultimate stage, starting in Palazuelos de Muñó on the A62, navigates the rolling hills surrounding Burgos with a semi-circular route around the city with the finish on the opposite side along the AP-1 in Briviesca, effectively bisecting Burgos on a diagonal. There is nothing scary on the profile but rather non-stop hills of 3-4% that eventually drain the energy reserves, particularly after 178 km of racing. There are not many sprinters in the race but the brave ones who did show up will want to keep control and go for the win in their only pure chance all week. Once through the Bonus Sprint in Oño with 34 km to go, the riders will stay on long, straight roads all the way into Briviesca. Only in the last few kilometers does the route deviate off the main road and into the streets of Briviesca with the line just across the Oca River. The run-in is straightforward however with only a gentle bend in the last 800 meters before the line appears directly ahead.
Race Summary
The heat intensified to a forecasted 34C (93F) at the finish with a head wind blocking the riders' path for the majority of the day. A small group got away right from the start including Josh Burnett of Burgos-Burpellet BH and Javier Ibáñez and Nil Aguilera of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. They built a maximum advantage of 5 minutes before Visma-Lease a Bike went to the front with Steven Kruijswijk to control for the hot favorite, Matthew Brennan. With 69 km to go, the gap was down to 2 minutes 20 seconds and well under control with just three riders out front.
The peloton descended off a large escarpment and into Valdenoceda to the Ebro River with beautiful views of the rocky landscape behind them. With 48.5 km to go, the break arrived at the base of the Alto La Varga with a 2 minute lead but Cofidis had added a man to the chase and the likelihood of staying clear was almost zero. After 1 km of climbing, Aguilera, a stagiaire with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, dropped away from the break leaving just two out front. 20 seconds was cut off the gap by the top and the bunch looked intent on closing the break down sooner rather than later.
Off the descent, the cavalcade was a very busy place as many riders were going back to the cars to gather bottles, ice, and gels for the last 40 km of the stage. Ibáñez rolled through the Bonus Sprint in Oño to take the prize but with Aguilera out of the break, that left one second still available for the peloton to battle over. Decathlon CMA CGM and Groupama-FDJ United both had lead outs coming to the line but it was Oscar Onley of Netcompany-Ineos who snagged the bonus second to move him to 7 seconds off race leader Felix Gall.
Visma-Lease a Bike went straight back to work and had the gap at just 45 seconds with 29 km to go which is what spurred Ibáñez to attack Burnett and go solo. As good as Ibáñez looked, the collective might of the peloton was stronger and they had the Spaniard at 30 seconds with 24 km remaining. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe threw a man into the chase either for their young talent, Davide Donati, or Laurence Pithie, to make three teams sharing the pace making.
Ibáñez was caught with 17 km to go and positioning began among the GC and sprint teams. With 6 km to go, the road was completely blocked from gutter to gutter but the bunch was in a holding pattern and waiting for the final acceleration. The speed intensified 2 km later on a short rise. The lead rider of each train was sprinting just to hold their spot and riders were being shot out the back after their job was complete. UAE-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike owned opposite sides of the road with TotalEnergies, Groupama-FDJ United, and Tudor Pro Cycling jostling in the middle. The front got messy on the gentle downhill as the speed increased coming into 1 km to go. Cofidis had numbers as did Bahrain Victorious and it was the latter that led through the penultimate corner at 1,000 meters. Visma-Lease a Bike finally found their way back to the front through the final corner but only with one man leading Brennan who slotted into fifth wheel. XDS-Astana took over the pace at 300 meters but a rush came from the right side of the road by Marius Mayrhofer of Tudor Pro Cycling which swamped Brennan and XDS-Astana sprinter Gleb Syritsa. The long sprint by Mayrhofer was too long and he was overtaken by David González of Pinarello Q36.5 but there was a yellow flash on its way. Brennan made his way out of the scrum and into fresh air but when he started his sprint, he was more than ten wheels back. His pure speed was far greater than the others however and he stormed passed everyone to hit the line first by half a bike length to Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe who snuck passed González in the final few meters.
There were no changes to GC as the contenders for the overall prepare for one last showdown tomorrow at Lagunas de Neila.