"I’m really pleased to have finished Vuelta on such a high note" - Magnus Cort wraps up career with teammate's victory
CyclingMonday, 14 September 2026 at 03:00
Magnus Cort Nielsen bid farewell to his professional career this Sunday, during the final stage of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana. The 33-year-old Dane went out swinging, finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th in stages whilst being of help to his teammates when needed. Of course, the Danish champion was emotional at the start of his final professional race.
Before the stage got underway, Cort was surprised by his team Uno-X Mobility with speeches, applause, and a special shirt from Fusion featuring all his victories, clubs throughout his career and of course the Bornholm flag.
"That really moved me. It’s wonderful to see. That’s probably also why I’m so moved," Cort told TV 2 Sport with a broken voice.
End on a high
For Cort, it was a massive letdown when he went unselected for the World Championships in Montréal, where he would have wished to round off his career. Instead of throwing a tantrum, the Danish rider did the best possible at Vuelta with two podiums and further two top-5 results. In addition, his teammates celebrated two stage victories, underlining a successful Grand Tour for the Norwegian formation.
"I’m really pleased to have finished the Vuelta on such a high note. It’s not that it makes finishing any harder, but if things had gone to hell, it probably would have been easier not to give a damn," he says with a chuckle, before summing up: "But now we’re finishing on a high."
Peloton loses one of its greats
During his active career, Cort enjoyed 36 professional victories. His palmares include 9 Grand Tour triumphs - 6 at Vuelta a Espana, 2 at Tour de France and 1 at Giro d'Italia. Furthermore, Cort won Arctic Race of Norway in 2024, Veneto Classic the same year, or Clasica de Almeria in 2017.
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And yet, perhaps the biggest victory of his career came towards its very end. 15 years after he had became Danish champion in junior category, Cort finally managed to claim also the special jersey's elite version in Herning.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I thought this team was on the decline.mij14-09-2026
- No rider is losing "credibility" over this. It's a sprint stage, not a GC stage. Very often, a sprint stage is effectively neutralized at 5 km, sometimes 3 km. The lap was a bit more at 10 km--not a big deal. And, the lap was not chosen for the specific distance. Practically, that way, the GC would finish at the same finish line, simplifying the timekeeping and logistics. Cycling is changing/has to change. The speeds are too high on courses too rough. Assymetrically, the rewards, salaries, and demands to win so high, losses to crashes have ruined riders and their teams full seasons. Too many great riders taking one or two years to return to top form. The violence of the sport the machismo these "analysts" pretend and want to amp up is what cost the sport its credibility as sport. Cycling can't be just blood and guts.JM14-09-2026
- Loved this edition. So exciting, so interesting. Loved the scenery, the riders, the whole thing. I watched every day.wrsty14-09-2026
- no-one holding his number i noticewrsty14-09-2026
- LOVE that winners kit. the blue really pops. Plus it's just nice to see a special kit that isn't UAE, Visma, INEOS or RBBH - the only GT winners for the last 8 years or so (IIRC)wrsty14-09-2026
- Well Seixas knows he can't take del Toro to a sprint. Torito won the sprint and still had enough time to take a bow
Rafionain-Glas14-09-2026 - 7 looks better without UijdtebroeksRafionain-Glas14-09-2026
- And congratulations to Afonso Eulálio too! He's becoming a better rider in every race!Lobz7713-09-2026
- UAE seem to own this race. Del Toro was oddly far back in the peloton several times, a case of patience and conserving effort. Ben Healey was fabulous in animating the race but I do wish he’d do it a lap or two later in order to make it to the finish. Ayuso still doesn’t make sense to me in how he races but heading into domestique role was a nice moment (something he rarely did at UAE). And Evenepoel? He had an anger moment and that derailed him somehow: the guy is fascinating how he goes apeshit sometimes, often only after the race has gotten away from him and he doesn’t have it in the legs anymore. In sum: congratulations del Toro, and he and Seixas are going to make for a very interesting race 2 weeks from now!RidesHills13-09-2026
- Who cares if Mas or Roglič or Gall or anyone else won this boring Vuelta. I see comments on this site, after Pogi crashed, went down at least 25%. Pogi haters and other fools on this site won't admit it. While they celebrated Pogi's crash and saying the Vuelta was "exciting again," the reality is that the second and third weeks of the Vuelta attracted far fewer viewers. David Bavin-HobbsIn on PRO CYCLING: "A cycling world that has been dominated for years by Pogačar and UAE Emirates-XRG—and in a world where people talk about the sport being “boring,” “monotonous,” and “unexciting”—the Slovenian’s withdrawal provided a very enlightening insight. For although Pogacar had the Vuelta firmly in his grasp, far more people were watching when he was in the race versus after his departure. The statistics website Procyclingstats shared a rather bizarre graph showing the sharp drop in visitor numbers since Pogacar was forced to withdraw. In recent years, there had always been an increase in unique visitors during the first and second weeks of the Vuelta. However, Pogacar’s withdrawal resulted in a 15 percent drop."PogiSloFans13-09-2026
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