August 28, 2026
There are no days off in this Vuelta. The GC guys need to be switched on once again as the race leaves the coastal plains from Vall d'Alba and heads inland into the mountains for a finish at 2,000 meters above sea level in Aramón Valdelinares. The first 40 km are the easiest all day as the race heads West following the Llucena River upstream to the first two climbs of the day, both averaging under 5%. From the top of the second one, the Alto de Zucaina, the proceeding 30 km gently roll to the base of the Alto Fuente de Rubielos, a 5.4 km climb at 6.3%. From there, the road hardly goes down for the final 50 km of the day. The Intermediate and Bonus Sprints come at the some point in Mora de Rubielos at 27 km to go before the Puerto de San Rafael, an 11 km ascent at 4.4% with the last 2 km at 7%. A 2 km descent leads into a right turn and the final 10 km uphill to Aramón Valdelinares. The average is just 5.9% but after 3,500 meters of elevation gain across the day, legs could snap when the accelerations come in the finale.
Race Summary
Many rated a possibility of a break staying to the finish but once Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike, Andreas Leknessund of Uno-X Mobility, and Milan Vader of Pinarello Q36.5 got clear, the peloton shut down and went wide across the road. Four more riders snuck out of the bunch to form a chase group which included Paul Ourselin of Cofidis, Iván Cobo of Equipo Kern Pharma, Timo Roosen of Picnic-PostNL Raisin, and Hannes Wilksch of Tudor Pro Cycling. There were a few more attacks from the peloton but those wanting to get up the road left it really late as the van Aert group quickly built a 2 minute 20 second advantage. XDS-Astana wanted to be in the break and they ripped the peloton over the long, straight roads and put the bunch into single file. They erased 1 minute off the gap in no time and caught the Ourselin chase group with 133 km to go.
Unfortunately for Pinarello Q36.5, Vader could not hold the wheel of van Aert and Leknessund as the stronger pair pressed on to stay clear of the attacking peloton. Attacks continued to roll on the ever-increasingly undulating roads as the race continued towards the hills. With 117 km to go, three riders went clear then another group of 15 riders broke out of the bunch. In the first few kilometers of the Puerto El Remolcador, the first chase group numbered around 20 riders and were trying to bridge up to van Aert and Leknessund who both were riding exceptionally well to have stayed away after all of the attacking behind.
500 meters from the top the Puerto El Remolcador, Alexey Lutsenko of NSN Cycling, Eddie Dunbar of Pinarello Q36.5, and Tobias Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility rode across and joined van Aert and Leknessund to make five leaders. 40 seconds further back was the chasing group of 20 and the peloton was out to 2 minutes 40 seconds. The gaps continued to expand up the shallow gradients of the Alto de Zucaina. At the top with 83 km to go, Leknessund led the group of five through the KOM line 90 seconds ahead of the first chase and 3 minutes 40 seconds up on the UAE-XRG led peloton that looked more than content with the situation.
In the next 25 km, the situation remained stable as the race passed through the dense forests of the Sierra de Gúdar and across the Mijares River heading towards the Arenoso Reservoir. As the Alto Fuente de Rubielos approached, the likelihood of the front group getting caught by the chasers was dwindling because the gap continued to creep out second by second and the cohesion just wasn't there.
On the Alto Fuente de Rubielos, the outcome of the race was becoming a bit more clear. UAE-XRG allowed the peloton to drift out to 5 minutes and completely uninterested in contending for the win. In the chase group, the gradients allowed the stronger climbers to stretch their legs and shed some of the weight that was dragging the group down on the previously rolling roads. Van Aert led over the top with 45 km to go and 1 minute 15 seconds on the chase that was trimmed down but still struggling to gain ground.
Van Aert led the leading group of five through the crowds of Mora de Rubielos with 27 km to go and took maximum points at the Intermediate Sprint to add to his Green Jersey tally. They still had almost 90 seconds on the chase but the hardest part of the stage was yet to come. There was no chance of being caught by the peloton who were trundling along nearly 7 minutes back so the only threat could come from those in the first chase group.
As van Aert led the break over the Puerto de San Rafael with 13.5 km to go, things were finally spicing up in the chasing group. Filippo Zana of Soudal Quickstep was setting a hard pace for his teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre and crested just 1 minute after the leaders. Others in the chase were Jakob Omrzel of Bahrain Victorious, Léo Bisiaux of Decathlon CMA CGM, Iván Ramiro Sosa of Equipo Kern Pharma, Larry Warbasse of Tudor Pro Cycling, and Juan Felipe Rodriguez of EF-Education EasyPost with Guillaume Martin of Groupama-FDJ United, Sergio Samitier of Cofidis, and Raúl García Pierna of Movistar just getting back on in the first few hundred meters of the descent.
The leaders made the right turn with 10 km to go to start the final ascent up to Aramón Valdelinares. In the first 3 km of the climb, Leknessund put himself in diesel mode and rode away from the rest of his break away companions. It was necessary to go early because the pure climbers were coming out of the chase group. Rodriguez and Sosa distanced themselves but they still had 1 minute 10 seconds to close on Leknessund and only 6.5 km to do so. The kilometers ticked by for Leknessund who looked powerful as he climbed through the pine forests and into 3 km to go. The closest competitor for Leknessund turned out to be van Aert who found his rhythm and was holding 40 seconds but Johannessen was stuck to van Aert and playing the perfect team role for Uno-X Mobility.
The fans crowded into the road and were cheering as Leknessund passed under 1 km to go. 45 seconds behind, Johannessen spotted a weakness in van Aert and attacked the Belgian to give Uno-X Mobility a 1-2 on the road. Leknessund allowed himself to smile and soak it in as he entered the barriers with the finish in sight. He crossed the line in disbelief to take his first Grand Tour stage win on a day of National mourning after the passing of the Norwegian King. Johannessen came home 33 seconds later with van Aert in third just a few seconds later after an incredible ride.
In the GC group, it was all quiet until Decathlon CMA CGM took over from UAE-XRG and ramped up the pace coming into the last 5 km. Jarno Widar of Lotto Intermarché and Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek both lost contact as the peloton was trimmed down to a more select group of favorites. Matthew Riccitello pulled then Gregor Mühlberger who unleashed his fellow Austrian, Felix Gall, with 2 km to go on the steepest section of the climb. Tadej Pogačar of UAE-XRG and Enric Mas of Movistar were quick to respond but a little daylight formed back to Primož Roglič of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Oscar Onley of Netcompany-Ineos.
With 1,500 meters to go, Pogačar got out of the saddle just to pop over a steep ramp but it was enough to distance Mas, then Gall. Pogačar continued his effort but looked well under control and put in 6 seconds to Gall and 16 seconds into Mas by the finish. Onley, Roglič, and Sepp Kuss of Visma-Lease a Bike lost 29 seconds to the Slovenian as they crossed the line together as the next-best GC riders on the day.
The top three in the overall remain the same with Mas at 3 minutes 50 seconds, Roglič at 4 minutes 50 seconds, and Gall in fourth at 5 minutes 1 second. Carapaz had a difficult day and lost over 1 minute 20 seconds which dropped him down three spots to seventh at 6 minutes 12 seconds.