"It's one of the best things we've seen in the Vuelta" - Danish commentator amazed by Visma's dominance on stage 13
CyclingSaturday, 05 September 2026 at 09:00
Wout Van Aert finally took his first stage win of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana. On the thirteenth stage, he and teammate Matthew Brennan animated the race finale and, with three kilometers left, Van Aert launched his decisive move to secure the stage victory in a head-to-head sprint against a lightweight climber Valentin Paret-Peintre.
Until now, Visma | Lease a Bike prioritized their young sprinter Matthew Brennan in bunch finishes, who celebrated three times so far, leaving Van Aert's own opportunities rather scarce.
In stage 7, the Belgian finished third off a breakaway when he couldn't compete uphill with Uno-X duo Leknessund-Johannessen. And on Tuesday, the uphill sprint in Elche de la Sierra became too chaotic for Van Aert to strike with precision.
Van Aert wanted a stage victory too
But towards the end of the second week, Van Aert said that all was enough and the stage 13 would become his prey. At least that's how Danish Eurosport commentator Brian Holm perceives the offensive racing style employed by Visma today.
"He just wanted to today. You can question the way he races, but it takes an exceptionally high amount of strength to be able to stab so many times," says Holm.
The Brennan-Van Aert duo has become a menace of bunch sprints, but both riders know to climb as well as they displayed a number of times, most recently during stage 13 when they joined the breakaway after a challenging start to the stage.
Wout Van Aert and Matthew Brennan celebrate stage 13 victory
"No doubt who was the boss today"
According to Holm, there was not much doubt about who the team would race for on Friday: "They had both him and Brennan and were sitting with good cards in their hand, but it was a bit like Wout was going to win today. That's what they had agreed on. He rode so aggressively the whole time. He kept going. It's one of the best things we've seen in the Vuelta."
In the end, a nine-rider group emerged out of the 43-headed breakaway which featured both Brennan and Van Aert, who have become the men to beat. Eventually, it was a two-versus-seven situation, but both riders were so strong that they in fact pushed opponents into defense under the pressure of their acceleration.
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Until with three kilometers to go, Van Aert finally snapped away with only the "skinny" Valentin Paret-Peintre - a seemingly perfect opponent into a one-on-one sprint. And unlike in the past, Van Aert was not going to disappoint this time. Matthew Brennan covered him in third position.
"He was man-covered. They couldn't take it anymore. He keeps going, and he keeps going, and he keeps biting back. They were riding fantastically," Holm concluded with words of praise.
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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- Can't see nothing wrong with that
leedorney05-09-2026 - It’s totally obvious it’s not about collecting money, why are people even discussing that? At its base it’s extremely simple, any group of people need guidelines to function or each will do as he thinks best. All groups have rights and responsibility towards others, everything is taking place in the public sphere, neither the riders/organisers/UCI own the infrastructure so they have to respect and use it according to the given guidelines. Let’s start with a really easy one, litter. What happens if you let riders throw everything away (without e.g. electronic tags to find it back) along a 200km stretch of road?Jumpyjohn05-09-2026
- So are you implying if nobody was checking or fining riders, they would do a better job of security and safety left to sort it out by themselves? They’d still be riding around without helmets, minus a few that would have died in crashes. Yes, more can and has to be done, no it will never be perfect, just like you cannot make traffic function perfectly but the stricter and more seriously you take it, the safer it gets. In countries with a very strict zero tolerance to driving with alcohol or drugs, you immediately notice how the public adapts, similarly in countries with a heavy fine for speeding (% of income). Without the strictness, more people go towards pushing limits or move towards copying those that do, it’s in our nature.Jumpyjohn05-09-2026
- Huh? You come out with that just after the Maeve Plouffe incident???? No better than most places. You also obviously didn’t get why I used examples of things you’re not going to be able to tackle but CAN happen anyway. Terrorists also get past police often enough when they’re determined.Jumpyjohn05-09-2026
- As was posted here several times in the past, bigger budget and ressources allotted to security by making teams and riders co-responsible for it (if they don’t agree, want to participate they know the potential consequences). Teams and riders have enough budget/staff/friends/fans to provide for what is needed to man (informed persons, not people guessing the last rider must have passed) more crossings to prevent drivers doing as they think best. Nobody has a problem paying for back up cars, service cars, driving around vips, making publicity for spectators. Apart from the Tour and some really big races, marshalling is almost totally dependent on (usually unpaid) volunteers of dubious experience. Not surprising considering the responsibility and risk and complete lack or recognition or reward. If you would « outsource » recruitement to smart outfits and accept to reward people nicely somehow, I’m sure you would be inundated with requests like for the Olympics. Get in touch with the public, schools, cycling clubs, associations, charities and make it fun. Don’t force e.g. some old lady without a phone to stand for hours in a yellow warning vest but get a bunch of people to have fun/picnic and occupy the space, then reward them with a meal/vip access/autograph signings/ meetings with riders, whatever, brainstorm. Designate and design crossings as spectator hot spots for them to gather instead of everywhere else along the course. They’re there to see the race, they can be useful and enjoy it simultaneously, and use their parked cars to help barricade access. Have a catering unit ahead in the caravan that distributes free sandwiches and drinks to crossings only (a free beer (use a sponsor if needed) will move mountains). It doesn’t take much more than willingness and organisation but you have to be smart enough to sell it. The UCI didn’t manage to « sell » compulsory helmets to riders in the 90s, the dumb f…ks went on strike to resist and suddenly 15y later it passed like a parcel in the post, today NOBODY even discusses the issue anymore, on the contrary, the helmet has become cult/design/hi-tech/paraphernalia/crucial (also to performance). People are stubbornly stuck in following bad old logic (and ever more, the wrong new proposals to move away from past inefficiency). In the world of cycling, apart from maybe for ASO (and even for them, the workload is huge), race organisation is not easy money.Jumpyjohn05-09-2026
- ""I was fully on his wheel, I did two short turns at the front. I believed I could win the sprint, you always have to believe, but it's Wout van Aert, you can't beat him in a sprint," he concluded." WTF...nice contradiction in your statement VPP! Why you even took a pull was totally baffling!frieders305-09-2026
- 4 stage wins after 13 stages. Really a terrible performance
Rafionain-Glas04-09-2026 - So what is the point of the fines if it is not worth collect the money? It doesn't effect the rider. The teams pay the fine. The points deduction thing is more effective but also a bit harsh on a rider and team that has worked hard to get those points.1stpastthepost04-09-2026
- In the UK the police doa great rolling road closure. Thats not a set route though like a tt. In this case in germany its obvious that road junction was missed and not down to teenagers playing up or drunk driving as both cars/van stopped right away1stpastthepost04-09-2026
- Of course the uci can't account for all eventualties. So jj you'r saying sh.t happens and that's it?1stpastthepost04-09-2026
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