"When Van Aert attacked, it was the hardest 5 seconds of this Vuelta" - Valentin Paret-Peintre settles for second place in stage 13
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike made no mistakes on the course of 2026 Vuelta a Espana's stage 13 - an effort which was rewarded with Wout Van Aert's stage triumph. In the finale, his only challenger was Valentin Paret-Peintre who could not hope that the 2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen scenario would repeat itself.
As soon as the stage got underway, a massive breakaway counting up to 43 riders got up the road. Later on, a 10-rider group split off and created a promising lead, but the bigger group kept things under control, and the battle for stage victory restarted on final categorized climb of the day.
This time, a new 9-rider group featuring Valentin Paret-Peintre was able to stay clear. With two strongest sprinters at the front, Visma could afford to tag every move until, with 3 kilometers to go, Van Aert rode away with Paret-Peintre in his wheel.
"The hardest 5 seconds since the start of this Vuelta"
"In the last 20km, I knew Van Aert was the wheel to follow. When he attacked with 3km to go, it was the hardest 5 seconds since the start of this Vuelta," the Soudal - Quick-Step rider told media afterwards.
The Frenchman took few short turns but aware of his disadvantage in a head-to-head sprint, he let Van Aert do most of the work in the end with the hopes of a possible upset scenario. But that did not happen, and Van Aert finished off the great job by teammate Matthew Brennan.
"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.
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Thus, Paret-Peintre has to hang on to his goal of having won a stage at each Grand Tour, after he previously managed to do at the Giro d'Italia in 2024, and one year later at the Tour de France. With the race very open in its second half, Paret-Peintre can look at at least three to four opportunities to tick off this box.
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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