September 1, 2026
With Tadej Pogačar out of the race, many will believe that opportunities for the break are far greater than they would have been with his win-hungry UAE-XRG team still in the race lead. Coming out of the first rest day, some riders will have recovered well and will be looking to capitalize on a rolling stage that doesn't look obvious for a sprint or GC battle. A long transfer has brought the race inland to Castilla–La Mancha for a 185 km stage from Alcaraz to Elche de la Sierra on roads that continually roll all day long. There are two category three climbs in the first half of the stage as the riders make their way East for a parallel run along the Mundo River. With 60 km to go, the race reaches Hellín for the Bonus and Intermediate Sprint before turning South and West towards the finish. 30 km from Elche de la Sierra, there is a spikey 1 km rise followed directly by a 10 km climb at 3.5% up the Puerto de Socovos. This could be a moment to unload the sprinters if the peloton is still in the game for a stage win but also perhaps a launch pad to split up a break. The run in to the finish is relatively straight forward with only two real corners in the last 4 km which rises at around 2.5%.
Race Summary
A warm and aggressive start saw a number of groups attempt to break the elastic but in the end, only seven got clear. In the group was Iván Cobo of Equipo Kern Pharma, Sinuhé Fernández of Burgos-Burpellet BH, Jasha Sütterlin of Jayco AlUla, Fredrik Dversnes of Uno-X Mobility, Michael Gogl of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Fabian Weiss of Tudo Pro Cycling, and Enzo Paleni of Groupama-FDJ United. When live coverage began with 102 km to go, the break was halfway up the Puerto de Ayna and had 2 minutes 15 seconds on the Cofidis led peloton that was riding hard to keep the break in check. By the top, the gap was down to 1 minute 20 seconds and firmly in control of the peloton with Visma-Lease a Bike still waiting in the wings to ride.
The bunch was strung out on the wide high way heading towards El Villarejo at high speeds passed the olive groves seated in red, rocky soil. Cofidis got over excited in the chase and realized it was too hard, too early, and decided to back off. Visma-Lease a Bike put Steven Kruijswijk on the front of the bunch and settled into a more stable controlling pace as they passed the 1,000 year old village of Liétor perched above on the rocks.
The gap was allowed to creep back up to 2 minutes as the bunch dropped out of the hills and entered the wide Mundo River basin. Weiss rolled through the intermediate sprint in Hellín at 60 km to go with the peloton crossing the same point 1 minute 35 seconds later under renewed enthusiasm from Cofidis. The long straight roads of the valley brought the riders to the pine forests of the Sierra de Socovos and back into more difficult terrain before the finish.
For the first time all day, the break away began to split up as they hit a 1 km uncategorized kicker with 34.5 km to go. Gogl looked strong and brought only Cobo, Dversnes, and Paleni with him but behind, moves were coming out of the peloton. Soudal Quickstep tried to break up the race but Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike was glued to the wheel and would not let anyone escape. By the top with 33.5 km to go, the peloton was stretched but in one piece and only 1 minute 10 seconds behind the Gogl group.
After a fast descent, the race crossed the Segura River over a narrow bridge and began the 10 km ascent of the Puerto de Socovos. The bottom was actually quite steep but Cofidis was able to wrangle in all of the aggression and set a pace to discourage further moves. At the back, riders pulled the pin and sat up which reduced the peloton but it was still largely intact. 2 km into the climb, Valentin Paret-Peintre of Soudal Quickstep attacked and was followed by Eddie Dunbar of Pinarello Q36.5. Cofidis did not panic and they held their pace with Visma-Lease a Bike to keep the attackers within sight. Paret-Peintre blew up trying to keep up with Dunbar as the Irishman persisted in his bridge attempt.
2 km from the top, Kevin Vermaerke of UAE-XRG jumped out of the main field and quickly went passed Dunbar. The climb was becoming so difficult that the GC riders were bubbling up towards the front to be attentive for any threat or opportunity. Vermaerke was caught but the move created a split about 30 wheels back as riders were weaving left and right in desperate attempts to stay in the slip stream of the man in front of them. Up front, it was Dversnes who led over the top with Cobo, Gogl, and Paleni in tow but just 30 seconds clear of the bunch who were still attacking each other.
Visma-Lease a Bike regained control on the downhill and kept the pace very quick as the road rolled generally downwards back to the Seguro River and the village of El Gallego. Gogl and Dversnes had enough power to drop Cobo and Paleni on the false flat downhill but they were in sight with 12 km to go. They stayed clear through 7.5 km to go as they passed over the river into El Gallego. Through town, the road began to rise away from the water and would continue to do so in steps all the way to the finish.
As soon as the road tipped up, riders launched from the peloton including Iñigo Elosegui of Equipo Kern Pharma. Gogl dropped away just as Dversnes was joined by Elosegui with Milan Vader of Pinarello Q36.5 trying to do the same. On Vader's wheel was Sepp Kuss who was playing the perfect team role for Visma-Lease a Bike by sitting on any dangerous move that went. Kuss and Vader made four at the front with 5 km to go but the peloton was no more than 10 seconds behind as Decathlon CMA CGM were driving hard into the gap. Vermaerke found himself in the front group with Walter Calzoni Pinarello Q36.5 but it was all back together moments later with just 3.5 km to go.
Just as the connection was made, Calzoni sent a searing counter attack to go clear alone. His cadence was quick and his upper body seemed to be doing as much as his legs as the Italian tried to get every bit of power out of his body and into the pedals. Brennan did the work to haul Calzoni back with 2 km to go and the Brit continued on the front to bring his leader, Wout van Aert, as close to the finish as possible.
Brennen peeled off with 1,500 meters to go as Netcompany-Ineos took over, although no team seemed to really have numbers left at the front to control. Yevgeniy Fedorov of XDS-Astana took advantage of a momentary lapse in pace and jumped clear under the 1 km banner with Xabier Azparren of Pinarello Q36.5 for company. A chasm formed behind until Groupama-FDJ United picked up the chase. Fedorov powered forward but got no help from Azparren who was cool and willing to gamble. The sprint opened up behind and it was Bastien Tronchon of Groupama-FDJ United and van Aert who were closing in fast. Azparren finally hit out with 75 meters to go but he was swarmed by sprinters vying for the win. Out of the chaos emerged Tronchon who crossed the line first, well ahead of Magnus Cort of Uno-X Mobility and Thibau Nys of Lidl-Trek who secured third. Tronchon held his head in disbelief as he took the first World Tour win and only the third win of his career. Azparren finished sixth and was likely wondering what could have been if he played the finale a little differently.