Results Vuelta a Espana 2026 Stage 13 | Wout van Aert ends victory wait as Matthew Brennan sacrifice helps deliver Visma win

Wout van Aert secured his first victory of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana after overpowering Valentin Paret-Peintre in a two-man sprint at the end of a chaotic Stage 13, completing a superb tactical performance from Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Van Aert launched the decisive attack with 3.5 kilometres remaining after teammate Matthew Brennan had repeatedly neutralised moves from their breakaway rivals. Paret-Peintre was the only rider capable of following, but the French climber was already struggling to hold the wheel as the pair opened a decisive advantage.

Paret-Peintre briefly contributed before leaving Van Aert to lead beneath the flamme rouge. He attempted to surprise the green jersey by launching the sprint, but Van Aert responded comfortably and powered past to end his wait for a stage victory.

The win rewarded a relentlessly aggressive day from the Belgian, who had attacked on the opening climb, collected mountain points, fought his way into the decisive selection and then used Visma’s numerical advantage perfectly alongside three-time stage winner Brennan.

The 193-kilometre stage from Almunecar to Loja began with an intense fight for the breakaway on the category-one Venta de la Cebada. An initial four-rider move was caught before repeated attacks produced an enormous 43-man escape. Van Aert beat polka-dot jersey Santiago Buitrago at the summit to collect ten mountain points, reducing the Colombian’s lead in that classification to 18.

Visma placed Van Aert, Brennan and Bruno Armirail in the move. Mattias Skjelmose was also present and immediately created a GC complication, having started the day seventh overall at 7:42 behind red jersey Enric Mas.

Felix Gall suffered a significant setback during the same early phase when Gregor Muhlberger crashed. The Austrian initially remounted but later abandoned, depriving Gall of his principal mountain lieutenant for the remainder of the Vuelta.

The vast break repeatedly separated and regrouped before Brennan reached a ten-man front selection. Vermaerke, Leo Bisiaux, Clement Berthet, Guillaume Martin, Andreas Kron, Andreas Leknessund, Vincenzo Albanese, Cristian Rodriguez and Lars Craps accompanied the Brit.

Brennan strengthened his points tally by winning the intermediate sprint in Tocon, but the chasing group containing Van Aert began closing rapidly on the Puerto de Granada.

Vermaerke and Leknessund attempted to keep the front group clear on the final classified climb, while Brennan and Bisiaux maintained the pace behind them. Van Aert then accelerated from the second group as the gap collapsed. The Belgian bridged across shortly before the summit, where Vermaerke collected the final mountain points of the day.

Repeated attacks on the descent reduced the original 43-rider move to a decisive group of nine. Van Aert and Brennan were joined by Fisher-Black, Vermaerke, Bisiaux, Paret-Peintre, Simon Dalby, Vincenzo Albanese and Jarno Widar.

Skjelmose remained in the chasing group and continued gaining time on the peloton, although the GC contenders began reducing their deficit during the final kilometres.

Visma held the numerical advantage at the front, but the composition of the group made passive racing dangerous. Brennan and Van Aert were the two fastest finishers, forcing their seven rivals to attack rather than wait for the uphill sprint.

Bisiaux made the first serious move inside the final seven kilometres, only for Brennan to bring him back. Dalby attacked next and was again reeled in, before Vermaerke tried to escape with Van Aert immediately on his wheel.

Brennan continued controlling the group whenever another rider accelerated. His work allowed Van Aert to sit in briefly after a day spent repeatedly attacking across the climbs and descents.

With 3.5 kilometres remaining, Van Aert committed fully. Paret-Peintre managed to follow the initial acceleration, but the rest of the group could not respond.

The pair quickly established a winning gap, leaving Paret-Peintre facing an uneven sprint against one of the most powerful fast finishers in the peloton. Van Aert completed the job on the rising road into Loja, converting Visma’s numerical superiority and Brennan’s work into his long-awaited first victory of this Vuelta.