Results Vuelta a España 2026 stage 5 - Matthew Brennan takes win number two as Visma rule over another sprint day

Stage 5 of the 2026 Vuelta a España was a day for the sprinters but one where surprises could happen with a hilly finale. But by the time the riders reached Roquetes, it was Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Matthew Brennan who flew into his second stage win of the race.

The stage featured a relatively downhill start, which saw the formation of a five-rider breakaway: Walter Calzoni, Fredrik Dversnes, Stefan Küng, Diego Uriarte and Mattia Gaffuri. The strong winds would cause a lot of tension in the peloton, meaning a high pace was constant behind. Because of this, Küng dropped from the group early on, leaving four men up front.

But this group would also be caught before the decisive part of the stage would begin, as Visma and Lidl-Trek often placed themselves in front, trying to create splits in the crosswinds. Mads Pedersen led the way for Mattias Skjelmose on several occasions, leading him to lose contact later on as the peloton entered the day's climbs.

Ethan Hayter briefly attacked off the front of the peloton, grabbing the intermediate sprint points whilst behind it was Wout Van Aert who did so - with no-one contesting it alongside him. Visma kept control of the race, and in the several short climbs that the peloton faced there was no team pushing the pace hard. Pedersen and a few other sprinters were dropped with the moderate pace, but a relatively bunched up group stayed together to discuss the sprint finish.

Xabier Mikel Azparren and Harold Tejada attacked in the peloton but had Visma men covering their moves, meaning that the Dutch team was in firm control of the head of the race.

Visma still had men to leadout the Briton towards the end, with Christophe Laporte leading the way into the final corner. Immediately, the Visma sprinter shot off from behind like a bullet and rode into his second stage win of the race. Jordi Meeus and Vincenzo Albanese rode to second and third on the day.