Opinion: Winners and losers of the 2026 Vuelta a España, from Enric Mas to Tadej Pogacar
CyclingMonday, 14 September 2026 at 14:00
The Vuelta a España 2026 delivered a race defined by the spectacular breakthrough of Enric Mas, the early dominance of Tadej Pogacar, the resurgence of Mikel Landa, and the outstanding collective work of Movistar Team and Visma.
There were disappointments too, although picking major losers in such a competitive and thrilling edition is not easy. These, in our view, are the race’s main winners and losers.
The standout winner of the Vuelta a España 2026 can only be Enric Mas. The Mallorcan claimed the overall classification and added a stage victory that completely changes the perception of his season and his recent trajectory in the Spanish race.
Enric Mas
Few backed Mas at this point in his career. Even the Vuelta’s own narrative did not include him among the top favorites when discussing contenders for the win. And that was despite arriving with four podiums in the race behind him. This time, however, Mas took the step that had eluded him for so many years.
Three moments were especially important to understand his victory. The first was his ability to follow Tadej Pogacar on the Bartolo. While the Slovenian showed from the start he was several levels above his rivals, Mas managed to hold his pace. That day he probably began to realize he could do something big in this Vuelta.
The situation changed for good after Pogacar’s crash and subsequent withdrawal. And on Alto de Aitana, in stage nine, Mas confirmed he was the strongest rider in the race. His win was a genuine exhibition and cemented him as the outstanding candidate for the red jersey.
The third key moment came in the time trial between El Puerto de Santa María and Jerez de la Frontera. During his previous Vuelta podiums, his struggles against the clock had been a major weakness compared with Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. This time was different: Mas finished inside the top 15 and lost barely half a minute to Roglic, a result that allowed him to keep the lead and take a near-decisive step towards victory.
There was still time for further masterclasses, such as his attack 12 kilometers from the line and his command in the mountains. In the final two stages, Mas even raced with a style reminiscent of the great grand tour winners of the past: controlling his rivals and managing his advantage until he became the Vuelta champion.
Enric Mas, winner of the Vuelta a España 2026
Movistar Team
Movistar Team deserves its own chapter. Enric Mas’ triumph is also the result of outstanding collective work, especially considering the difficulties the Spanish squad faced during the race.
The loss of Cian Uijtdebroeks left the team without its other top climber almost from the start. Movistar appeared to be left with a roster too limited to control a three-week race in which Enric Mas ended up in red.
However, the team responded superbly from a strategic standpoint. On the flat, riders like Arcas, Orluis Aular, and Carlos Canal were fundamental. In the mountains, Movistar used riders intelligently who are not pure climbers but know how to defend themselves very well on demanding terrain.
Iván Romeo, Pablo Castillo, and a sensational Raúl García Pierna joined breakaways and later became support pieces for Mas when the race required it. The strategy allowed the team to avoid taking full responsibility for control from the peloton while having riders up the road when the decisive moments arrived.
Behind this triumph we should also highlight the work of Chente García Acosta, José Joaquín Rojas, Iván Velasco, and the entire technical staff. The final outcome is proof that Movistar knew how to race an extremely complex event despite losing one of its key cards for the mountains.
Movistar Team, en la Vuelta a España 2026
Visma, Matthew Brennan and Wout van Aert
Visma was another of the standout teams in this Vuelta a España. After winning the race in 2025 with Jonas Vingegaard, the Dutch squad came into 2026 without such a clear leader for the general classification. That did not stop it from once again becoming one of the main protagonists.
Matthew Brennan was one of the race’s brightest stars thanks to multiple victories, while Wout van Aert once again showcased his immense versatility. The Belgian was almost omnipresent and heads to the World Championships in Montreal in a particularly intriguing position after his Vuelta display.
But the best example of Visma’s tactical punch came on the penultimate stage. The team’s strategy allowed Sepp Kuss to slip into a break that ended up having a huge impact on the general classification. The American climbed from 11th to fifth overall thanks to a perfectly executed move.
Visma were also the dominant force in the sprints and stacked wins and headlines across the three weeks. Without a leader initially set to fight for the overall, the Dutch squad ended up as one of the big names of the Vuelta.
Wout Van Aert was a headliner at the Vuelta a España
Mikel Landa
Mikel Landa also earns his place among the winners. The Basque rider needed just one victory to change the feel of a difficult season, and he found it precisely on one of the Vuelta’s key stages.
Landa had gone more than a year without a win, and his previous Vuelta stage victory dated back 11 years. He arrived after almost two seasons marked by crashes and physical issues, at a time when even his future at the top level seemed in doubt.
On the penultimate stage, with chances running out, Landa delivered an exhibition in the Sierra Granadina. A day featuring three first-category climbs and one hors catégorie ascent became one of the standout moments of his recent career.
At 36 and having signed with Euskaltel-Euskadi, it remains to be seen whether this was his last Grand Tour. That is precisely why his triumph carries extra weight. Winning a queen stage after everything he has endured in recent years makes Landa one of the big winners of this Vuelta.
Mikel Landa, ganador de etapa en La Vuelta
The losers
Tadej Pogacar
It may seem harsh to place Tadej Pogacar among the losers, but the term must be read within the context of this ranking. While he was in the race, the Slovenian was the Vuelta’s strongest rider by a wide margin.
Pogacar dominated the race emphatically, won three stages, and opened a huge gap on riders like Enric Mas, Primoz Roglic, and Felix Gall. In the opening days, none of them looked capable of challenging him for the win.
But Pogacar’s objective was to win the Vuelta a España. After conquering the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France five times, the Spanish race was the Grand Tour still missing from his palmarès.
The crash he suffered on stage eight ended his bid to close the circle. His withdrawal not only denied him the chance to fight for the Vuelta, but also to start a World Championships in Montreal that suited him perfectly, and to approach the season finale and Il Lombardia with confidence.
Pogacar appears on the losers’ list only because he could not achieve the goal he was chasing. Not because of his performance, which was outstanding, but because a crash ultimately denied him victory when it seemed almost under control.
Tadej Pogacar, estrella de UAE
Carlos Rodríguez
Carlos Rodríguez is another name that inevitably features among this Vuelta a España’s losers. The Andalusian is living through one of the toughest spells of his career, largely shaped by injuries and a series of crashes that have cost him continuity.
In modern cycling, consistent racing is essential to maintain and improve performance levels. Rodríguez has spent almost two years without stringing together several top-level races, and the results have reflected that.
His Vuelta was far from what was expected of one of Spanish cycling’s brightest prospects. He rarely featured, never made the key breakaways, and failed to play a meaningful role alongside Oscar Onley.
It was especially striking given the race passed close to Granada, where Rodríguez had extra motivation and a chance to shine in front of his home fans. Instead, he was largely anonymous.
Netcompany INEOS' decision to leave him off the Tour de France roster is easier to understand after this Vuelta. Rodríguez needs to regain continuity, confidence, and form to get back to the level that once made him a great hope for Spanish cycling.
Carlos Rodríguez, en la Vuelta 2026
Decathlon CMA CGM Team
If we must pick the team that raced the 2026 Vuelta a España the worst, Decathlon CMA CGM Team stand out as the clearest candidate. On paper, the French squad brought one of the strongest rosters in the race, especially for high mountains, but failed to turn that potential into results.
Their issue was not a lack of quality riders, but how they used their resources. In the opening stages, the team inadvertently aided Tadej Pogacar’s attacks, allowing the Slovenian to go clear and win with an authority that later proved decisive.
Things did not improve when Enric Mas emerged as the Vuelta’s strongest man. Decathlon never found a way to put the Mallorcan under real pressure or to create the conditions Felix Gall needed to fight for the overall.
On some days, several riders burned matches early only to run out of support when the decisive moments arrived. On others, riders like Leo Bisiaux, Gregor Mühlberger, or Matthew Riccitello pulled too long and too hard without enabling Gall to capitalise.
With a roster that, on paper, was built to be one of the race’s dominant forces, the collective outcome fell well short of expectations. The problem was not the riders’ quality, but the execution of the strategy.
And in a Vuelta a España as tight and complex as this one, racing poorly can prove as decisive as having less in the legs than your rivals.
Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The factor of the no-Pogacar, is another point of note, no one wins with Pogacar around or it's close.. I think their should be a rule, if Pogacar's in a race then his results should be ignored
leedorney14-09-2026 - what a garbage takewrsty14-09-2026
- Pity Kuss couldn’t find back his past performance except for one or two good stages. Makes you wonder how he ever managed to win it even if you ignore the others on the podium were restrained.Jumpyjohn14-09-2026
- A bit of a whiner though. Attracts attention to himself and then complains people pay attention to him. You don’t usually achieve change by trying to force things through, and that’s when there’s more or less consensus it’s necessary or good. If you’re just doing it because it’s convenient for YOU or to go it alone against established ways, you’ve got no chance.Jumpyjohn14-09-2026
- Change the record.Cyclingsbestfan14-09-2026
- I'm sorry to see him go. We need people who shake things up or things never change. This reminds me of how the UCI treated Graeme Obree (google the name younngsters) back in the day.Cyclingsbestfan14-09-2026
- It is good news for cycling fans, but I doubt that the many peoples of the world that are put upon will even know about it.Cyclingsbestfan14-09-2026
- At least we saw a great race in Montreal, not like the boring Vuelta. Who cares if Mas or Roglič or Gall or anyone else won this boring race. 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."PogiSloFans14-09-2026
- Loved the kit Movistar put together, too, that has to be one of the best GT winning kits I’ve seen.anonymouscyclist14-09-2026
- Somehow Seixas went to sleep just as Del Toro launched his sprint. Seixas says he's still learning, and he won't make that mistake again. And Remco still beat Pidcock in the sprint for fifth after burning too many matches. Should be a great Worlds race indeed!Hills3314-09-2026
Loading
Write a comment