Results Vuelta a Espana 2026 Stage 7 | Andreas Leknessund leads emotional Uno-X one-two hours after King Harald V’s death
CyclingFriday, 28 August 2026 at 17:34
Andreas Leknessund delivered an emotional victory for Norway on Stage 7 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana, leading home Uno-X Mobility teammate Tobias Halland Johannessen only hours after the death of King Harald V.
Leknessund attacked on the final climb to Aramon Valdelinares and completed his first Grand Tour stage victory alone. Johannessen subsequently accelerated away from Wout van Aert inside the final two kilometres to complete a remarkable Uno-X one-two, with the Belgian taking third after spending the entire day at the front.
King Harald died in Oslo on Friday morning at the age of 89, several hours before the stage began. The Uno-X riders competed in black armbands, with Leknessund and Johannessen placing themselves in the decisive break before producing the perfect tactical performance on the final climb.
Behind the battle for the stage, Tadej Pogacar launched another attack from the general classification group. The red jersey responded to an acceleration from Felix Gall before going clear alone and dropping both the Austrian and Enric Mas on the approach to the summit.
Van Aert creates the decisive break
Van Aert launched the first attack immediately after the flag dropped in Vall d’Alba, initially taking Leknessund and Milan Vader with him. Vader was unable to sustain the pace as Van Aert and Leknessund continued, while repeated counterattacks contributed to an opening-hour average of approximately 49km/h.
Eddie Dunbar, Alexey Lutsenko and Johannessen eventually bridged across on the Puerto El Remolcador, creating a five-man leading group. Johannessen’s arrival gave Uno-X two riders at the front and provided the tactical advantage which ultimately decided the stage.
A further 22 riders formed a large chase containing Pello Bilbao, Jakob Omrzel, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Filippo Zana, Leo Bisiaux, Bruno Armirail, Koen Bouwman and Mads Pedersen.
Seven teams held two representatives in the group, but uncertainty over responsibility for the pursuit allowed the five leaders to establish an advantage exceeding one minute. Pedersen and several others were later dropped when the chase finally accelerated on the Fuente de Rubielos.
UAE Team Emirates – XRG allowed the peloton to fall almost seven minutes behind, removing Pogacar from the stage-victory equation and leaving the breakaway to contest the summit finish.
Leknessund ends run of Grand Tour near-misses
Leknessund had already collected the mountains points on the Puerto El Remolcador and Alto de Zucaina before Van Aert led across the Fuente de Rubielos and Puerto de San Rafael.
Van Aert also secured the maximum 20 points at the intermediate sprint in Mora de Rubielos, reducing his deficit to Pogacar in the points classification from 33 to 13 before the final climb. His eventual third place further strengthened his bid to take control of the green jersey.
Valentin Paret-Peintre attacked from the chase as the road began rising towards Aramon Valdelinares, but remained approximately one minute behind the five leaders. Leknessund made his own move at the front when the gradient increased, quickly distancing Dunbar and forcing Van Aert into difficulty.
Johannessen remained with Lutsenko and Van Aert rather than contributing to the pursuit of his teammate. That allowed Leknessund to extend his advantage towards 40 seconds as he entered the final six kilometres.
Van Aert recovered sufficiently to drop Lutsenko, but Johannessen remained planted on his wheel. Leknessund held his advantage across the final steep section before reaching the flatter closing kilometre with victory secured.
Johannessen then attacked Van Aert with approximately 1.1 kilometres remaining and completed the Uno-X one-two. The result gave the Norwegian team a stage victory on their first appearance at the Vuelta and transformed their day-long attack into a poignant national tribute.
Pogacar attacks after Gall tries his luck
The general classification favourites began the final climb almost seven minutes behind the stage winner, but Decathlon CMA CGM Team ensured there was no truce among the leading contenders.
Its increase in pace initially dropped Mattias Skjelmose and Ramses Debruyne. Gall then attacked from the reduced group, with Pogacar responding immediately and Mas following while Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss, Oscar Onley and Richard Carapaz lost contact.
Pogacar subsequently moved clear of Gall and Mas to finish the stage alone, adding another late display of strength after allowing the breakaway to fight for victory. Leknessund and Johannessen had already completed an unforgettable afternoon for Uno-X, while the red jersey used the closing kilometres to reinforce his control of the Vuelta.
Carlos Silva is a writer for CiclismoAtual.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he contributes race reports, interviews, analysis pieces, and live coverage of the international cycling calendar. Holding a degree in Sports from the Jean Piaget Institute, he combines academic knowledge of performance, training, and competition with hands-on journalism experience in professional cycling.
Throughout his career, Carlos has conducted interviews with leading figures in the sport, including Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodríguez, Óscar Pereiro, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Derek Gee, John Degenkolb and Geraint Thomas. These conversations reflect direct engagement with Grand Tour winners, Classics specialists, and emerging talents.
He has provided on-site coverage at major events ranging from the Vuelta a España to the Tour de France, alongside stage races such as Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, Volta a Portugal and O Gran Camiño. Covering the mythical climbs of the Giro d'Italia remains one of his professional ambitions.
Carlos is responsible for liveblog coverage of all major WorldTour races and beyond, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His reporting integrates verified data from ProCyclingStats to ensure statistical accuracy, contextual depth, and analytical precision.
A lifelong cycling enthusiast, he approaches storytelling across written, photographic, and video formats with a focus on credibility, tactical insight, and informed race interpretation.
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- Wout was a monster today. I really thought his day would end after the intermediate sprint.DAS28-08-2026
- Does your nationality change depending on what login name you use?
Andrew28-08-2026 - Once again - How do you know, not assume, but know they were French? Were you there, did you interview them to ascertain their nationality? We do know that some people in the crowd were boo-ing but have no idea of their nationality.Andrew28-08-2026
- I heard a little birdy say before todays stage: "Tweet tweet... Tadej Pogačar will allow a break away today but at the end of the race he will still show Mas who the real boss is in this Vuelta....just for fun... tweet tweet !!!"PogiSloFans28-08-2026
- That performance by Mas was fantastic. WHAT a flex to overtake Pog on the peak of the climb, haha. Amazing.wrsty28-08-2026
- If this was known why did nobody in Ineos advice Onley to not follow Pogi attack and then he blew big time.abstractengineer28-08-2026
- Years ago the French booed Armstrong (before his doping scandal)... they were booing Jonas in 2024... now they're booing Pogi, because, I guess, he didn't gift Seixas a win.PogiSloFans28-08-2026
- So can you... shush... Capish?PogiSloFans28-08-2026
- I'm not that old, and also work out in the gym... they are still pretty hard... my cojones...PogiSloFans28-08-2026
- Hey Yankee, you're actually right, but I still have huge bollocks :))PogiSloFans28-08-2026
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