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As it happened: Time trial goes down to the wire at stage 1 of the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España GC standings – Tadej Pogačar keeps leader’s jersey after stage 2
Vuelta a España: Powerful sprint nets Matthew Brennan stage 2 victory as Tadej Pogačar fends off attacks to keep leader’s jersey
As it happened: British sensation steals the show in first road stage at La Vuelta a España 2026
The race leaves Monaco and heads to Provence and Manosque with a 214.3 km stage that takes on well over 3000 metres of climbing
Stage 3 starts in Gruissan-Aude and has the first summit finish of the race in the Pyrenees on the Font Romeu with bonus seconds coming on the Col de Mont-Louis just a few KMs beforehand.
And, of course, Pogačar keeps hold of green with Hayter continuing to wear it on his behalf.
Brennan goes into white after fellow Brit, Tarling, lost 1’41” at the finish.
Koen Bouwman took both KOMs today for Jayco-AlUla and sets his stall out for the jersey.
Pogačar keeps red after a valiant effort by Hayter in the break. He was caught behind a near crash at the bottom of the climb and didn’t have the legs to move up beforehand. He didn’t know he missed out on the jersey at the finish and was on his own. Clearly disappointed.
The first of many Grand Tour wins for Matthew Brennan?
A perfect way to make your debut as Visma-Lease a Bike pull off a near perfect tactical display in the finale of stage 2 at La Vuelta…
>>> Vuelta a España: Powerful sprint nets Matthew Brennan stage 2 victory as Tadej Pogačar fends off attacks to keep leader’s jersey
Hayter, in the end, lost 31″ to the lead group. He gave it his best shot to go for red and did what he needed to do with the intermediate sprint but wasn’t able to follow on the climb to the finish.
Pogačar does indeed keep red with Van Aert 2nd at 9″ with Brennan jumping up to 3rd and into the white jersey.
That is quite a way to make you Grand Tour road stage debut.
What a performance from Brennan.
|
Position |
Rider (country title case abbreviated) Team (remove spaces that are on either side of hyphens) |
Time (format h:mm:ss and relative to the winner) |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Brennan Matthew (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
4:47:47 |
|
2 |
Miquel Pau (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious |
+0:00:00 |
|
3 |
Pogačar Tadej (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
+0:00:00 |
|
4 |
Pedersen Mads (Den) Lidl-Trek |
+0:00:00 |
|
5 |
Hofstetter Hugo (Fra) NSN Cycling Team |
+0:00:00 |
|
6 |
Johannessen Tobias Halland (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
+0:00:00 |
|
7 |
Fisher-Black Finn (Nzl) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe |
+0:00:00 |
|
8 |
Laurance Axel (Fra) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
9 |
Onley Oscar (Gbr) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
10 |
Aular Orluis (Ven) Movistar Team |
+0:00:00 |
Hayter was dropped and does not take red. It looks like Pogačar will keep red.
Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike wins stage 2 of La Vuelta a España on his second Grand Tour stage ever!
Jayco try an attack but now Visma take over for Brennan to go for the sprint. 500m to go.
A rider from XDS-Astana coming across as well with the peloton not far away.
Attack!
Wout Van Aert (TVL)
Tadej Pogačar goes after him and all that work from Hayter may be for nothing. 1.5km to go.
NSN comes to the front working for Hugo Hofstetter. They have control for the moment but Visma are waiting in the wins with Laporte, Van Aert and Brennan.
Visma clearly working for Brennan in the sprint as Van Aert moves towards the front with Laporte.
Asian champion Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana) could put in a good sprint as he moves to the front as well. 3km to go.
4km to go and the road narrows briefly before opening up again with NSN and Bahrain Victorious on the front. They’re getting swamped, though. Some of the bigger sprint teams start to bring up their numbers.
5km to go and now there’s a huge battle for positioning. So many teams try to hold the top positions but two quick fire roundabouts string it out again with UAE and Kern Pharma leading the way.
Visma get a bit lost for a moment with a few riders all over the place as Kern Pharma come to the front with numbers for Marc Brustenga.
Groupama-FDJ come back to the front as well as they work for Bastien Tronchon. 6km to go.
Visma, UAE, Lidl-Trek, Movistar and Ineos spread across the road as there are splits starting to appear with a very long line. Hayter, if still near the back, is in big trouble.
Suddenly, the pace explodes! Visma, UAE, Movistar and Ineos take the front through a roundabout with Ineos and Visma taking the most control for now with 7km to go.
10km to go
It is mostly headwind to the finish with the wind around 20kph. Movistar joins the list of teams on the front of the bunch.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG now come up to the front as well with Novak leading their train. Pogačar well placed and possibly thinking about going for the stage.
Since the route was announced the talk of the lavender fields in this area was talked up. Sadly, we have had yet another brutal summer and the lavender season is done already. Sobering stuff. Fortunately, it is more the temperatures you’d expect in the area today.
Into Valensole they go by the Durance river. The main river for Provence that looks much much lower than it should.
Samitier back at the doctors car. He has clearly come down with some road rash on his right arm.
Hayter has done his usual thing and gone to sit right at the back of the peloton. May cause issues later on.
With no breakaway and no exposed roads of tricky terrain at the moment the pace has dropped right out of the bunch.
Netcompany-Ineos, Groupama-FDJ, Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike lead the peloton with 25km to go until the finish in Manosque.
Looks like Pedersen has an issue as he waits for his team car. Now pouring water over his head and taking a bidon. Maybe he’s just taking one more chance to chat with his DS.
30km to go
This is all about the climb to Manosque now. Previously used in the Tour de la Provence where Coquard and Pedersen have both won.
Hayter now caught after Pogačar briefly terrified everyone by hitting the front. But now all the teams are getting into colour order with 31km to go. Time for a feed zone, though.
Van Aert taking 4″ bonus does complicate it. Van Aert started 9″ down on Pogačar and Hayter. With Hayter taking 6″ and Van Aert taking 4″ puts Van Aert at 11″, so the Belgian can’t take red without a gap.
Behind it was Wout Van Aert taking 4″ bonus and 17 points then Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) taking 2″ and 15 points then Christophe Laporte taking 13 points.
Hayter takes the intermediate sprint, 20 points but, most importantly, 6″ bonus.
Hayter is going to take the 6″ bonus! He will go into the virtual lead and take red from Pogačar. But, he will have to finish with the leaders at the end of the day.
40km to go
Hayter has 4km to the intermediate sprint and he has 30″ of a gap. I think he has this. But then he has to stay in the peloton to the finish.
Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) now at the doctors car. A few issues in the peloton today.
Hayter is pushing very hard but the pace behind skyrockets again as riders are being dropped from the peloton.
Stage 2️⃣ | Etapa 2️⃣
❤️ Hayter goes solo in pursuit of the points (and bonus seconds 👀) as his fellow escapees get caught
🔥 ¡Ethan Hayter quiere La Roja y es cabeza de carrera en solitario!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T14:38:12.120Z
11km to the intermediate sprint now for Hayter. This is going to be very tight as he pulls out the gap to 30″ over a breaking down peloton.
Abandon
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan champion sadly was unable to continue after his crash.
Van Aert and Brennan are waiting in the wings but Hayter leaves Fernandez and Uriarte behind and has extended his advantage on the peloton to 28″.
50km to go
Just 12″ gap for Hayter, Fernandez and Uriarte out front. This isn’t going to happen for the British rider.
Crash
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan road race champion is down and stays down while still clipped into the pedals.
There’s 20, 17, 15, 13 and 10 points available at the intermediate sprint as well as the 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds.
As they get closer to the intermediate sprint Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Premier Tech start moving up towards the front of the peloton with just 14″ up to the break with Bruno Arimirail (Visma-Lease a Bike) joining Kruijswijk on the front.
Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) looks to be struggling a the back of the peloton. The Danish champion would’ve been a name to watch a couple of years ago for a stage like today. Maybe he will move up and challenge but we shall see.
Bouwman sits up from the break and is caught by the peloton after confirming that he will wear the mountains jersey tomorrow. Big blow to the break as Hayter is pushing hard in the break.
Visma want Hayter back and soon. The gap drops to 28″ as Kruijswijk is joined by more teammates on the front to push the pace.
Visma-Lease a Bike have suddenly ramped the pace right up and the gap is back to 45″ again with around 20km to the intermediate sprint. Maybe a big of panic setting in for Visma as they need to pull Hayter back.
25km to the intermediate sprint now. The break have pulled out their gap to 1’14”. This is looking a bit better for the break and going for the bonus seconds. Hayter won’t have it his own way though at the sprint as Uriarte and Fernandez will be very keen to get as many points as possible.
For the first time in a while the gap goes above a minute as the break try and stay away.
70km to go
35km to the intermediate sprint with the gap at 52″. Kruijswijk and Mosca continue to set a strong tempo in the peloton with Netcompany-Ineos sat on their wheels as they have been all day to protect Tarling in white as well as Oscar Onley of the GC and Ben Turner for the stage.
Mechanical for Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The New Zealand time trial champion finished in a solid 9th place at 10″ down.
Gap now plummiting again at 44″. Hayter’s bonus second chances looking less and less likely.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) will decide whether he goes for a good GC placing at this race or not at the end of week one as the 2023 winner gages his form…
>>> ‘A top 10 on GC isn’t as important as a stage win’ – 2023 Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss to make definitive decision on overall bid at end of first week
It has been a very very easy first day in red for Pogačar so far.
❤️ TaRED Pogacar ❤️
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T13:51:43.836Z
The bunch don’t seem to want to catch the break just yet with the gap stabilised at 1’00” with 80km to go.
Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Kaden Groves targets green but has very tough competition to get it by the finish in Granada…
>>> ‘We’re looking for the green jersey, but it’ll be difficult’ – Kaden Groves tips Tadej Pogačar as potential rival in hunt for Vuelta a España points classification
About 60km to go to the intermediate sprint where 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds are available. Hayter will be very keen to get some of those. Any would put him into red if he is able to finish with the front runners at the end of the day. But, Visma and Lidl-Trek are pushing hard behind to try and not let that happen.
The riders cross the halfway point on the stage.
A huge amount of time has been hacked off the break’s lead and they are now 1’00” from the peloton.
The Belgian is now at the doctors car almost a minute out of the back of the peloton.
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He did get back on but as soon as the road starts to climb again Uijtdebroeks is out of the back again.
Uijtdebroeks has been dropped off the back after his crash. Feeling the crash he had earlier.
KOM (Col de Saint Andrieu)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Fernandez (BBH) 1pt
Bouwman will wear the polka dots tomorrow.
After 2 hours of racing the average speed has been 42.6kph.
111km to go, 1’29” to the peloton. They are on the climb of Col de Saint Andrieu.
The peloton aren’t allowing the break any good gap at all.
The climb is the Col de Saint Andrieu. It is 5km long with an average gradient of 4.8%. 3, 2 and 1 points on offer yet again.
The gap is down to 1’27” as they start the final categorised climb of the day.
Pogačar gets his first day in the red jersey today. The first of likely many over the next three weeks. He adds it to the 71 days in yellow at the Tour de France and the 20 days in pink at the Giro d’Italia. Yes, the year he won the Giro he wore pink from stage 2 after being beaten on stage one by now teammate Jhonatan Narváez.
The gap is reduced again to 1’42”.
🏁 155 km | Stage 2️⃣ – Etapa 2️⃣ | #LaVuelta26
💪 Two strong teams working together to bring back the breakaway for their sprinters
👊 @teamvismaleaseabike.com y @lidltrek.bsky.social trabajan en el pelotón para reducir la ventaja de la fuga
⏱️1’30” Pelotón— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T12:28:27.972Z
150km to go
The gap grows to 1’55” between the peloton and the four man break of Hayter, Bouwman, Uriate and Fernandez.
Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) and Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) are leading the way in the peloton.
Crash
Cian Uijtdebroeks (MOV)
The Belgian GC hope went down. No idea when as no information around but he appears to be back riding. Yet more bad luck for him, though.
160km to go
Into the final 100 miles of the stage and the gap is now stable at around 1’30”. The peloton are within striking distance for the intermediate sprint so Visma can deny Hayter a chance of taking red and keeping Van Aert’s dreams alive.
Van Aert missed out on his goal of red yesterday but can take red today if everything goes to plan…
>>> ‘I know I lost time in the corners’ – Wout van Aert’s dream of returning to red in the opening Vuelta a España TT falls short
43kph average speed in the first hour.
The gap continues to fall with the peloton now at just 1’32” from the leaders as Fernandez finally makes it a group of four out front.
In the break, Bouwman has experience of going for the mountains jersey in a Grand Tour. He won it at the Giro as well as two stages back in 2022.
Lidl-Trek join Visma-Lease a Bike on the front of the peloton. Pedersen would have to win the intermediate sprint and the stage to go level on time with Pogačar and Hayter.
I don’t know if that will give him red. Depends if Pogačar or Hayter finish below 15th in the stage or not as that is the Danes finishing position yesterday.
KOM (Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Hayter (SOQ) 1pt
First points in the KOM standings handed out.
⚡️ First proper climb of this year’s Vuelta! But don’t worry, there is much more to come 😜💙 ¡Primer puerto de #LaVuelta26 para Bouwman en la lucha por el maillot azul!⛰ 3️⃣ 𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀̂𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐅-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄1️⃣ 🇳🇱 Koen Bouwman – @GreenEDGEteam – 3p.2️⃣ 🇪🇸 Diego… pic.twitter.com/iLgpIkCKfyAugust 23, 2026
180km to go
Hayter, Bouwman and Uriate have 20″ on Fernandez but just 2’00” on the peloton led by Visma-Lease a Bike who want to give Wout Van Aert a chance to go into red at the end of the day. Van Aert starts today 9″ down in GC on Pogačar and Hayter. If Hayter gets any bonuses at the intermediate sprint, it will not be possible for Van Aert to go into red.
Fernandez is still pushing and is 55″ away from the front of the race, but the gap to the peloton is shrinking with the leaders now only holding 2’30” on the peloton with Fernandez now 1’35” ahead of the pack.
It is a long day out front for Hayter but the intermediate sprint, with 48km to go, has 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available. Any would see him take virtual red. But, there’s about 140km between him and that point in the race.
And Hayter joins the leaders Bouwman and Uriate with around 5km to the top of the climb.
It looks like the leaders are waiting for Hayter as the gap is shrinking rapidly to him but they have also lost 30″ to the peloton.
Bouwman and Uriate still have 33″ on Hayter despite having a big lead on the peloton with Fernandez still at 1’25”.
The riders are on the first climb of the day, the Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse. All the climbs have a little bit of Spanish to them as it is La Vuelta, that is why the Alto is there. Cat 3 climb at 13km with a gentle average gradient of 2.9%. There are 3, 2 and 1 points available at the top.
The leaders are being reported as Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma). They have a gap of 3’28” on the peloton.
Hayter is 35″ off the back of the leaders. He is not joined by Paret-Peintre as previously reported. Fernandez is now at 1’28” from the leaders but 2’00” ahead of the peloton. They have let Hayter go!
Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) is said to be in the second chase group along with teammate and second overall, Ethan Hayter!
Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) is in the third group on the road as he tries to bridge the 45″ gap to the leaders.
Suddenly, there’s groups strewn across the road with the two leaders out front with 1’10” gap on the peloton with two chase groups in the gap.
Its Slovenia central at La Vuelta this year! Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Roman Ermakov (Bahrain Victorious) having a chat in the bunch.
Two riders are clear of the bunch by 17″ but will surely want company.
But the first moves are swiftly caught.
Attacks firing off the front immediately to try and form the early breakaway.
214.3km to go
Racing gets underway in France now that the riders have left Monaco. The long race to Manosque begins.
💪 Here is the real start of the first classical road stage! Let’s gooo
😍 ¡Salida lanzada para la primera etapa en línea! ¡Vamos!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T11:02:56.570Z
Ethan Hayter is going to try and take red on today’s stage with tiny gap splitting him and Pogačar.
>>> ‘It’s not completely under my control but I’m going to try’ – After ultra-narrow TT defeat to Pogačar, Ethan Hayter throws hat in ring for red in Vuelta a España
The racing hasn’t got underway just yet as riders return to the peloton after various issues.
Mechanical for Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ) may delay things slightly.
The racing is due to start any moment now.
Jerseys:
Red – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)
Green – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)*
Polka dots – Technically not owned but worn by Callum Thornley (RBH)
White – Josh Tarling (NCI)
*Worn by – Ethan Hayter (SOQ)
The riders rolled out almost half an hour ago in Monaco.
📍𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎
💪 Stage 2️⃣ neutral start!
🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 2️⃣!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T10:24:43.335Z
Just around 20 minutes left of the neutralised section of today’s stage. All in all, with the neutral included, the riders are riding 235.3km today. A huge distance so early in the race.
It is another sunny day on the Mediterranean coast.
The neutralised section of today’s stage is a massive 21km long as they leave Monaco and head into France. Through Èze, top of the famous Col dÈze that recently saw the end of the Tour de France Femmes and into Nice before starting the race at the other side of the frequently visited city.
Its a happy birthday to Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). The former Tour de l’Avenir winner turns 27 today.
Neutral start
The riders have rolled out of the start in Monaco. Hayter starts the race in the green skinsuit but on the same time as Pogačar. Could the British rider maybe take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint?
There are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available in Gréoux-les-Bains with just under 50km of the stage remaining. It would take a lot of managing by his Soudal-Quickstep team.
Full red but no custom bike just yet as he continues to ride the super lightweight Colnago that has almost no paint on the frame.
Red-hot ❤️ Al Rojo vivo📸 @cxcling | #LaVuelta26 | @TeamEmiratesUAE pic.twitter.com/BXojfh1kcWAugust 23, 2026
It feels like it is wrong but this is Tadej Pogačar’s first time in the red jersey at La Vuelta and he has gone full red, as you would. The last rider to lead a Grand Tour from stage 1 all the way through to the end was Gianni Bugno in 1990 at the Giro d’Italia. Can Pogačar pull off the achievement? Or will he try and give it away early to save his team?
The neutral start comes at midday local time, so the riders will be rolling out of Monaco in around 30 minutes time.
The riders are busy signing on and being presented to the crowd with local hero and Monégasque national champion, Victory Langellotti (XDS-Astana) after his switch from Netcompany-Ineos at the start of the month.
The opening road stage of this year’s Vuelta is an intriguing one. Over 3000 metres of climbing on the menu but only two categorised climbs, it is a tricky one to call. Likely suiting the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kaden groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) but also brings in riders like Tadej Pogačar himself into the mix and a possible second stage win in as many days.
Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) put in a superb ride after eight horrendous days for him and his family.
>>> ‘I gave it everything I had’ – Eight days after brother Finlay’s death, Josh Tarling takes third in opening Vuelta a España time trial
It wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone last night that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took the win, but the margin of victory was incredible. Just 0.09 of a second split the five time Tour de France victor and the British TT champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) on the line in the principality famed for tight margins in Formula 1.
>>> Vuelta a España: Tadej Pogačar claims stage 1 time trial and takes the first leader’s jersey in Monaco
Hola! Welcome to live updates on stage 2 of La Vuelta a España here on Cyclingnews.
-
1‘When Wout goes, you have to react’ – Tadej Pogačar retains Vuelta a España lead after sizzling finale duel with Van Aert
-
2
Kim Le Court-Pienaar comes full circle at Tour of Britain Women to take her first-ever GC victory
-
3
‘I didn’t really have much left for such a hard finish’ – Ethan Hayter misses out on red jersey again at Vuelta a España despite gutsy breakaway ride in ripped shorts
-
4
Vuelta a España: Powerful sprint nets Matthew Brennan stage 2 victory as Tadej Pogačar fends off attacks to keep leader’s jersey
-
5
Deutschland Tour: Isaac del Toro seals overall title as Paul Magnier wins finale stage 4 in Heilbronn
As it happened: British sensation steals the show in first road stage at La Vuelta a España 2026
The race leaves Monaco and heads to Provence and Manosque with a 214.3 km stage that takes on well over 3000 metres of climbing
As it happened: British sensation steals the show in first road stage at La Vuelta a España 2026
The race leaves Monaco and heads to Provence and Manosque with a 214.3 km stage that takes on well over 3000 metres of climbing
Stage 3 starts in Gruissan-Aude and has the first summit finish of the race in the Pyrenees on the Font Romeu with bonus seconds coming on the Col de Mont-Louis just a few KMs beforehand.
And, of course, Pogačar keeps hold of green with Hayter continuing to wear it on his behalf.
Brennan goes into white after fellow Brit, Tarling, lost 1’41” at the finish.
Koen Bouwman took both KOMs today for Jayco-AlUla and sets his stall out for the jersey.
Pogačar keeps red after a valiant effort by Hayter in the break. He was caught behind a near crash at the bottom of the climb and didn’t have the legs to move up beforehand. He didn’t know he missed out on the jersey at the finish and was on his own. Clearly disappointed.
The first of many Grand Tour wins for Matthew Brennan?
A perfect way to make your debut as Visma-Lease a Bike pull off a near perfect tactical display in the finale of stage 2 at La Vuelta…
>>> Vuelta a España: Powerful sprint nets Matthew Brennan stage 2 victory as Tadej Pogačar fends off attacks to keep leader’s jersey
Hayter, in the end, lost 31″ to the lead group. He gave it his best shot to go for red and did what he needed to do with the intermediate sprint but wasn’t able to follow on the climb to the finish.
Pogačar does indeed keep red with Van Aert 2nd at 9″ with Brennan jumping up to 3rd and into the white jersey.
That is quite a way to make you Grand Tour road stage debut.
What a performance from Brennan.
|
Position |
Rider (country title case abbreviated) Team (remove spaces that are on either side of hyphens) |
Time (format h:mm:ss and relative to the winner) |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Brennan Matthew (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
4:47:47 |
|
2 |
Miquel Pau (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious |
+0:00:00 |
|
3 |
Pogačar Tadej (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
+0:00:00 |
|
4 |
Pedersen Mads (Den) Lidl-Trek |
+0:00:00 |
|
5 |
Hofstetter Hugo (Fra) NSN Cycling Team |
+0:00:00 |
|
6 |
Johannessen Tobias Halland (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
+0:00:00 |
|
7 |
Fisher-Black Finn (Nzl) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe |
+0:00:00 |
|
8 |
Laurance Axel (Fra) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
9 |
Onley Oscar (Gbr) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
10 |
Aular Orluis (Ven) Movistar Team |
+0:00:00 |
Hayter was dropped and does not take red. It looks like Pogačar will keep red.
Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike wins stage 2 of La Vuelta a España on his second Grand Tour stage ever!
Jayco try an attack but now Visma take over for Brennan to go for the sprint. 500m to go.
A rider from XDS-Astana coming across as well with the peloton not far away.
Attack!
Wout Van Aert (TVL)
Tadej Pogačar goes after him and all that work from Hayter may be for nothing. 1.5km to go.
NSN comes to the front working for Hugo Hofstetter. They have control for the moment but Visma are waiting in the wins with Laporte, Van Aert and Brennan.
Visma clearly working for Brennan in the sprint as Van Aert moves towards the front with Laporte.
Asian champion Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana) could put in a good sprint as he moves to the front as well. 3km to go.
4km to go and the road narrows briefly before opening up again with NSN and Bahrain Victorious on the front. They’re getting swamped, though. Some of the bigger sprint teams start to bring up their numbers.
5km to go and now there’s a huge battle for positioning. So many teams try to hold the top positions but two quick fire roundabouts string it out again with UAE and Kern Pharma leading the way.
Visma get a bit lost for a moment with a few riders all over the place as Kern Pharma come to the front with numbers for Marc Brustenga.
Groupama-FDJ come back to the front as well as they work for Bastien Tronchon. 6km to go.
Visma, UAE, Lidl-Trek, Movistar and Ineos spread across the road as there are splits starting to appear with a very long line. Hayter, if still near the back, is in big trouble.
Suddenly, the pace explodes! Visma, UAE, Movistar and Ineos take the front through a roundabout with Ineos and Visma taking the most control for now with 7km to go.
10km to go
It is mostly headwind to the finish with the wind around 20kph. Movistar joins the list of teams on the front of the bunch.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG now come up to the front as well with Novak leading their train. Pogačar well placed and possibly thinking about going for the stage.
Since the route was announced the talk of the lavender fields in this area was talked up. Sadly, we have had yet another brutal summer and the lavender season is done already. Sobering stuff. Fortunately, it is more the temperatures you’d expect in the area today.
Into Valensole they go by the Durance river. The main river for Provence that looks much much lower than it should.
Samitier back at the doctors car. He has clearly come down with some road rash on his right arm.
Hayter has done his usual thing and gone to sit right at the back of the peloton. May cause issues later on.
With no breakaway and no exposed roads of tricky terrain at the moment the pace has dropped right out of the bunch.
Netcompany-Ineos, Groupama-FDJ, Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike lead the peloton with 25km to go until the finish in Manosque.
Looks like Pedersen has an issue as he waits for his team car. Now pouring water over his head and taking a bidon. Maybe he’s just taking one more chance to chat with his DS.
30km to go
This is all about the climb to Manosque now. Previously used in the Tour de la Provence where Coquard and Pedersen have both won.
Hayter now caught after Pogačar briefly terrified everyone by hitting the front. But now all the teams are getting into colour order with 31km to go. Time for a feed zone, though.
Van Aert taking 4″ bonus does complicate it. Van Aert started 9″ down on Pogačar and Hayter. With Hayter taking 6″ and Van Aert taking 4″ puts Van Aert at 11″, so the Belgian can’t take red without a gap.
Behind it was Wout Van Aert taking 4″ bonus and 17 points then Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) taking 2″ and 15 points then Christophe Laporte taking 13 points.
Hayter takes the intermediate sprint, 20 points but, most importantly, 6″ bonus.
Hayter is going to take the 6″ bonus! He will go into the virtual lead and take red from Pogačar. But, he will have to finish with the leaders at the end of the day.
40km to go
Hayter has 4km to the intermediate sprint and he has 30″ of a gap. I think he has this. But then he has to stay in the peloton to the finish.
Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) now at the doctors car. A few issues in the peloton today.
Hayter is pushing very hard but the pace behind skyrockets again as riders are being dropped from the peloton.
Stage 2️⃣ | Etapa 2️⃣
❤️ Hayter goes solo in pursuit of the points (and bonus seconds 👀) as his fellow escapees get caught
🔥 ¡Ethan Hayter quiere La Roja y es cabeza de carrera en solitario!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T14:38:12.120Z
11km to the intermediate sprint now for Hayter. This is going to be very tight as he pulls out the gap to 30″ over a breaking down peloton.
Abandon
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan champion sadly was unable to continue after his crash.
Van Aert and Brennan are waiting in the wings but Hayter leaves Fernandez and Uriarte behind and has extended his advantage on the peloton to 28″.
50km to go
Just 12″ gap for Hayter, Fernandez and Uriarte out front. This isn’t going to happen for the British rider.
Crash
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan road race champion is down and stays down while still clipped into the pedals.
There’s 20, 17, 15, 13 and 10 points available at the intermediate sprint as well as the 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds.
As they get closer to the intermediate sprint Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Premier Tech start moving up towards the front of the peloton with just 14″ up to the break with Bruno Arimirail (Visma-Lease a Bike) joining Kruijswijk on the front.
Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) looks to be struggling a the back of the peloton. The Danish champion would’ve been a name to watch a couple of years ago for a stage like today. Maybe he will move up and challenge but we shall see.
Bouwman sits up from the break and is caught by the peloton after confirming that he will wear the mountains jersey tomorrow. Big blow to the break as Hayter is pushing hard in the break.
Visma want Hayter back and soon. The gap drops to 28″ as Kruijswijk is joined by more teammates on the front to push the pace.
Visma-Lease a Bike have suddenly ramped the pace right up and the gap is back to 45″ again with around 20km to the intermediate sprint. Maybe a big of panic setting in for Visma as they need to pull Hayter back.
25km to the intermediate sprint now. The break have pulled out their gap to 1’14”. This is looking a bit better for the break and going for the bonus seconds. Hayter won’t have it his own way though at the sprint as Uriarte and Fernandez will be very keen to get as many points as possible.
For the first time in a while the gap goes above a minute as the break try and stay away.
70km to go
35km to the intermediate sprint with the gap at 52″. Kruijswijk and Mosca continue to set a strong tempo in the peloton with Netcompany-Ineos sat on their wheels as they have been all day to protect Tarling in white as well as Oscar Onley of the GC and Ben Turner for the stage.
Mechanical for Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The New Zealand time trial champion finished in a solid 9th place at 10″ down.
Gap now plummiting again at 44″. Hayter’s bonus second chances looking less and less likely.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) will decide whether he goes for a good GC placing at this race or not at the end of week one as the 2023 winner gages his form…
>>> ‘A top 10 on GC isn’t as important as a stage win’ – 2023 Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss to make definitive decision on overall bid at end of first week
It has been a very very easy first day in red for Pogačar so far.
❤️ TaRED Pogacar ❤️
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T13:51:43.836Z
The bunch don’t seem to want to catch the break just yet with the gap stabilised at 1’00” with 80km to go.
Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Kaden Groves targets green but has very tough competition to get it by the finish in Granada…
>>> ‘We’re looking for the green jersey, but it’ll be difficult’ – Kaden Groves tips Tadej Pogačar as potential rival in hunt for Vuelta a España points classification
About 60km to go to the intermediate sprint where 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds are available. Hayter will be very keen to get some of those. Any would put him into red if he is able to finish with the front runners at the end of the day. But, Visma and Lidl-Trek are pushing hard behind to try and not let that happen.
The riders cross the halfway point on the stage.
A huge amount of time has been hacked off the break’s lead and they are now 1’00” from the peloton.
The Belgian is now at the doctors car almost a minute out of the back of the peloton.
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He did get back on but as soon as the road starts to climb again Uijtdebroeks is out of the back again.
Uijtdebroeks has been dropped off the back after his crash. Feeling the crash he had earlier.
KOM (Col de Saint Andrieu)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Fernandez (BBH) 1pt
Bouwman will wear the polka dots tomorrow.
After 2 hours of racing the average speed has been 42.6kph.
111km to go, 1’29” to the peloton. They are on the climb of Col de Saint Andrieu.
The peloton aren’t allowing the break any good gap at all.
The climb is the Col de Saint Andrieu. It is 5km long with an average gradient of 4.8%. 3, 2 and 1 points on offer yet again.
The gap is down to 1’27” as they start the final categorised climb of the day.
Pogačar gets his first day in the red jersey today. The first of likely many over the next three weeks. He adds it to the 71 days in yellow at the Tour de France and the 20 days in pink at the Giro d’Italia. Yes, the year he won the Giro he wore pink from stage 2 after being beaten on stage one by now teammate Jhonatan Narváez.
The gap is reduced again to 1’42”.
🏁 155 km | Stage 2️⃣ – Etapa 2️⃣ | #LaVuelta26
💪 Two strong teams working together to bring back the breakaway for their sprinters
👊 @teamvismaleaseabike.com y @lidltrek.bsky.social trabajan en el pelotón para reducir la ventaja de la fuga
⏱️1’30” Pelotón— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T12:28:27.972Z
150km to go
The gap grows to 1’55” between the peloton and the four man break of Hayter, Bouwman, Uriate and Fernandez.
Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) and Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) are leading the way in the peloton.
Crash
Cian Uijtdebroeks (MOV)
The Belgian GC hope went down. No idea when as no information around but he appears to be back riding. Yet more bad luck for him, though.
160km to go
Into the final 100 miles of the stage and the gap is now stable at around 1’30”. The peloton are within striking distance for the intermediate sprint so Visma can deny Hayter a chance of taking red and keeping Van Aert’s dreams alive.
Van Aert missed out on his goal of red yesterday but can take red today if everything goes to plan…
>>> ‘I know I lost time in the corners’ – Wout van Aert’s dream of returning to red in the opening Vuelta a España TT falls short
43kph average speed in the first hour.
The gap continues to fall with the peloton now at just 1’32” from the leaders as Fernandez finally makes it a group of four out front.
In the break, Bouwman has experience of going for the mountains jersey in a Grand Tour. He won it at the Giro as well as two stages back in 2022.
Lidl-Trek join Visma-Lease a Bike on the front of the peloton. Pedersen would have to win the intermediate sprint and the stage to go level on time with Pogačar and Hayter.
I don’t know if that will give him red. Depends if Pogačar or Hayter finish below 15th in the stage or not as that is the Danes finishing position yesterday.
KOM (Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Hayter (SOQ) 1pt
First points in the KOM standings handed out.
⚡️ First proper climb of this year’s Vuelta! But don’t worry, there is much more to come 😜💙 ¡Primer puerto de #LaVuelta26 para Bouwman en la lucha por el maillot azul!⛰ 3️⃣ 𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀̂𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐅-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄1️⃣ 🇳🇱 Koen Bouwman – @GreenEDGEteam – 3p.2️⃣ 🇪🇸 Diego… pic.twitter.com/iLgpIkCKfyAugust 23, 2026
180km to go
Hayter, Bouwman and Uriate have 20″ on Fernandez but just 2’00” on the peloton led by Visma-Lease a Bike who want to give Wout Van Aert a chance to go into red at the end of the day. Van Aert starts today 9″ down in GC on Pogačar and Hayter. If Hayter gets any bonuses at the intermediate sprint, it will not be possible for Van Aert to go into red.
Fernandez is still pushing and is 55″ away from the front of the race, but the gap to the peloton is shrinking with the leaders now only holding 2’30” on the peloton with Fernandez now 1’35” ahead of the pack.
It is a long day out front for Hayter but the intermediate sprint, with 48km to go, has 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available. Any would see him take virtual red. But, there’s about 140km between him and that point in the race.
And Hayter joins the leaders Bouwman and Uriate with around 5km to the top of the climb.
It looks like the leaders are waiting for Hayter as the gap is shrinking rapidly to him but they have also lost 30″ to the peloton.
Bouwman and Uriate still have 33″ on Hayter despite having a big lead on the peloton with Fernandez still at 1’25”.
The riders are on the first climb of the day, the Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse. All the climbs have a little bit of Spanish to them as it is La Vuelta, that is why the Alto is there. Cat 3 climb at 13km with a gentle average gradient of 2.9%. There are 3, 2 and 1 points available at the top.
The leaders are being reported as Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma). They have a gap of 3’28” on the peloton.
Hayter is 35″ off the back of the leaders. He is not joined by Paret-Peintre as previously reported. Fernandez is now at 1’28” from the leaders but 2’00” ahead of the peloton. They have let Hayter go!
Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) is said to be in the second chase group along with teammate and second overall, Ethan Hayter!
Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) is in the third group on the road as he tries to bridge the 45″ gap to the leaders.
Suddenly, there’s groups strewn across the road with the two leaders out front with 1’10” gap on the peloton with two chase groups in the gap.
Its Slovenia central at La Vuelta this year! Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Roman Ermakov (Bahrain Victorious) having a chat in the bunch.
Two riders are clear of the bunch by 17″ but will surely want company.
But the first moves are swiftly caught.
Attacks firing off the front immediately to try and form the early breakaway.
214.3km to go
Racing gets underway in France now that the riders have left Monaco. The long race to Manosque begins.
💪 Here is the real start of the first classical road stage! Let’s gooo
😍 ¡Salida lanzada para la primera etapa en línea! ¡Vamos!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T11:02:56.570Z
Ethan Hayter is going to try and take red on today’s stage with tiny gap splitting him and Pogačar.
>>> ‘It’s not completely under my control but I’m going to try’ – After ultra-narrow TT defeat to Pogačar, Ethan Hayter throws hat in ring for red in Vuelta a España
The racing hasn’t got underway just yet as riders return to the peloton after various issues.
Mechanical for Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ) may delay things slightly.
The racing is due to start any moment now.
Jerseys:
Red – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)
Green – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)*
Polka dots – Technically not owned but worn by Callum Thornley (RBH)
White – Josh Tarling (NCI)
*Worn by – Ethan Hayter (SOQ)
The riders rolled out almost half an hour ago in Monaco.
📍𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎
💪 Stage 2️⃣ neutral start!
🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 2️⃣!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T10:24:43.335Z
Just around 20 minutes left of the neutralised section of today’s stage. All in all, with the neutral included, the riders are riding 235.3km today. A huge distance so early in the race.
It is another sunny day on the Mediterranean coast.
The neutralised section of today’s stage is a massive 21km long as they leave Monaco and head into France. Through Èze, top of the famous Col dÈze that recently saw the end of the Tour de France Femmes and into Nice before starting the race at the other side of the frequently visited city.
Its a happy birthday to Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). The former Tour de l’Avenir winner turns 27 today.
Neutral start
The riders have rolled out of the start in Monaco. Hayter starts the race in the green skinsuit but on the same time as Pogačar. Could the British rider maybe take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint?
There are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available in Gréoux-les-Bains with just under 50km of the stage remaining. It would take a lot of managing by his Soudal-Quickstep team.
Full red but no custom bike just yet as he continues to ride the super lightweight Colnago that has almost no paint on the frame.
Red-hot ❤️ Al Rojo vivo📸 @cxcling | #LaVuelta26 | @TeamEmiratesUAE pic.twitter.com/BXojfh1kcWAugust 23, 2026
It feels like it is wrong but this is Tadej Pogačar’s first time in the red jersey at La Vuelta and he has gone full red, as you would. The last rider to lead a Grand Tour from stage 1 all the way through to the end was Gianni Bugno in 1990 at the Giro d’Italia. Can Pogačar pull off the achievement? Or will he try and give it away early to save his team?
The neutral start comes at midday local time, so the riders will be rolling out of Monaco in around 30 minutes time.
The riders are busy signing on and being presented to the crowd with local hero and Monégasque national champion, Victory Langellotti (XDS-Astana) after his switch from Netcompany-Ineos at the start of the month.
The opening road stage of this year’s Vuelta is an intriguing one. Over 3000 metres of climbing on the menu but only two categorised climbs, it is a tricky one to call. Likely suiting the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kaden groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) but also brings in riders like Tadej Pogačar himself into the mix and a possible second stage win in as many days.
Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) put in a superb ride after eight horrendous days for him and his family.
>>> ‘I gave it everything I had’ – Eight days after brother Finlay’s death, Josh Tarling takes third in opening Vuelta a España time trial
It wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone last night that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took the win, but the margin of victory was incredible. Just 0.09 of a second split the five time Tour de France victor and the British TT champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) on the line in the principality famed for tight margins in Formula 1.
>>> Vuelta a España: Tadej Pogačar claims stage 1 time trial and takes the first leader’s jersey in Monaco
Hola! Welcome to live updates on stage 2 of La Vuelta a España here on Cyclingnews.
Stage 3 starts in Gruissan-Aude and has the first summit finish of the race in the Pyrenees on the Font Romeu with bonus seconds coming on the Col de Mont-Louis just a few KMs beforehand.
And, of course, Pogačar keeps hold of green with Hayter continuing to wear it on his behalf.
Brennan goes into white after fellow Brit, Tarling, lost 1’41” at the finish.
Koen Bouwman took both KOMs today for Jayco-AlUla and sets his stall out for the jersey.
Pogačar keeps red after a valiant effort by Hayter in the break. He was caught behind a near crash at the bottom of the climb and didn’t have the legs to move up beforehand. He didn’t know he missed out on the jersey at the finish and was on his own. Clearly disappointed.
The first of many Grand Tour wins for Matthew Brennan?
A perfect way to make your debut as Visma-Lease a Bike pull off a near perfect tactical display in the finale of stage 2 at La Vuelta…
>>> Vuelta a España: Powerful sprint nets Matthew Brennan stage 2 victory as Tadej Pogačar fends off attacks to keep leader’s jersey
Hayter, in the end, lost 31″ to the lead group. He gave it his best shot to go for red and did what he needed to do with the intermediate sprint but wasn’t able to follow on the climb to the finish.
Pogačar does indeed keep red with Van Aert 2nd at 9″ with Brennan jumping up to 3rd and into the white jersey.
That is quite a way to make you Grand Tour road stage debut.
What a performance from Brennan.
|
Position |
Rider (country title case abbreviated) Team (remove spaces that are on either side of hyphens) |
Time (format h:mm:ss and relative to the winner) |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Brennan Matthew (Gbr) Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
4:47:47 |
|
2 |
Miquel Pau (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious |
+0:00:00 |
|
3 |
Pogačar Tadej (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
+0:00:00 |
|
4 |
Pedersen Mads (Den) Lidl-Trek |
+0:00:00 |
|
5 |
Hofstetter Hugo (Fra) NSN Cycling Team |
+0:00:00 |
|
6 |
Johannessen Tobias Halland (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
+0:00:00 |
|
7 |
Fisher-Black Finn (Nzl) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe |
+0:00:00 |
|
8 |
Laurance Axel (Fra) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
9 |
Onley Oscar (Gbr) Netcompany INEOS |
+0:00:00 |
|
10 |
Aular Orluis (Ven) Movistar Team |
+0:00:00 |
Hayter was dropped and does not take red. It looks like Pogačar will keep red.
Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike wins stage 2 of La Vuelta a España on his second Grand Tour stage ever!
Jayco try an attack but now Visma take over for Brennan to go for the sprint. 500m to go.
A rider from XDS-Astana coming across as well with the peloton not far away.
Attack!
Wout Van Aert (TVL)
Tadej Pogačar goes after him and all that work from Hayter may be for nothing. 1.5km to go.
NSN comes to the front working for Hugo Hofstetter. They have control for the moment but Visma are waiting in the wins with Laporte, Van Aert and Brennan.
Visma clearly working for Brennan in the sprint as Van Aert moves towards the front with Laporte.
Asian champion Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS-Astana) could put in a good sprint as he moves to the front as well. 3km to go.
4km to go and the road narrows briefly before opening up again with NSN and Bahrain Victorious on the front. They’re getting swamped, though. Some of the bigger sprint teams start to bring up their numbers.
5km to go and now there’s a huge battle for positioning. So many teams try to hold the top positions but two quick fire roundabouts string it out again with UAE and Kern Pharma leading the way.
Visma get a bit lost for a moment with a few riders all over the place as Kern Pharma come to the front with numbers for Marc Brustenga.
Groupama-FDJ come back to the front as well as they work for Bastien Tronchon. 6km to go.
Visma, UAE, Lidl-Trek, Movistar and Ineos spread across the road as there are splits starting to appear with a very long line. Hayter, if still near the back, is in big trouble.
Suddenly, the pace explodes! Visma, UAE, Movistar and Ineos take the front through a roundabout with Ineos and Visma taking the most control for now with 7km to go.
10km to go
It is mostly headwind to the finish with the wind around 20kph. Movistar joins the list of teams on the front of the bunch.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG now come up to the front as well with Novak leading their train. Pogačar well placed and possibly thinking about going for the stage.
Since the route was announced the talk of the lavender fields in this area was talked up. Sadly, we have had yet another brutal summer and the lavender season is done already. Sobering stuff. Fortunately, it is more the temperatures you’d expect in the area today.
Into Valensole they go by the Durance river. The main river for Provence that looks much much lower than it should.
Samitier back at the doctors car. He has clearly come down with some road rash on his right arm.
Hayter has done his usual thing and gone to sit right at the back of the peloton. May cause issues later on.
With no breakaway and no exposed roads of tricky terrain at the moment the pace has dropped right out of the bunch.
Netcompany-Ineos, Groupama-FDJ, Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike lead the peloton with 25km to go until the finish in Manosque.
Looks like Pedersen has an issue as he waits for his team car. Now pouring water over his head and taking a bidon. Maybe he’s just taking one more chance to chat with his DS.
30km to go
This is all about the climb to Manosque now. Previously used in the Tour de la Provence where Coquard and Pedersen have both won.
Hayter now caught after Pogačar briefly terrified everyone by hitting the front. But now all the teams are getting into colour order with 31km to go. Time for a feed zone, though.
Van Aert taking 4″ bonus does complicate it. Van Aert started 9″ down on Pogačar and Hayter. With Hayter taking 6″ and Van Aert taking 4″ puts Van Aert at 11″, so the Belgian can’t take red without a gap.
Behind it was Wout Van Aert taking 4″ bonus and 17 points then Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) taking 2″ and 15 points then Christophe Laporte taking 13 points.
Hayter takes the intermediate sprint, 20 points but, most importantly, 6″ bonus.
Hayter is going to take the 6″ bonus! He will go into the virtual lead and take red from Pogačar. But, he will have to finish with the leaders at the end of the day.
40km to go
Hayter has 4km to the intermediate sprint and he has 30″ of a gap. I think he has this. But then he has to stay in the peloton to the finish.
Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) now at the doctors car. A few issues in the peloton today.
Hayter is pushing very hard but the pace behind skyrockets again as riders are being dropped from the peloton.
Stage 2️⃣ | Etapa 2️⃣
❤️ Hayter goes solo in pursuit of the points (and bonus seconds 👀) as his fellow escapees get caught
🔥 ¡Ethan Hayter quiere La Roja y es cabeza de carrera en solitario!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T14:38:12.120Z
11km to the intermediate sprint now for Hayter. This is going to be very tight as he pulls out the gap to 30″ over a breaking down peloton.
Abandon
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan champion sadly was unable to continue after his crash.
Van Aert and Brennan are waiting in the wings but Hayter leaves Fernandez and Uriarte behind and has extended his advantage on the peloton to 28″.
50km to go
Just 12″ gap for Hayter, Fernandez and Uriarte out front. This isn’t going to happen for the British rider.
Crash
Sergio Chumil (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)
The Guatemalan road race champion is down and stays down while still clipped into the pedals.
There’s 20, 17, 15, 13 and 10 points available at the intermediate sprint as well as the 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds.
As they get closer to the intermediate sprint Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Premier Tech start moving up towards the front of the peloton with just 14″ up to the break with Bruno Arimirail (Visma-Lease a Bike) joining Kruijswijk on the front.
Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) looks to be struggling a the back of the peloton. The Danish champion would’ve been a name to watch a couple of years ago for a stage like today. Maybe he will move up and challenge but we shall see.
Bouwman sits up from the break and is caught by the peloton after confirming that he will wear the mountains jersey tomorrow. Big blow to the break as Hayter is pushing hard in the break.
Visma want Hayter back and soon. The gap drops to 28″ as Kruijswijk is joined by more teammates on the front to push the pace.
Visma-Lease a Bike have suddenly ramped the pace right up and the gap is back to 45″ again with around 20km to the intermediate sprint. Maybe a big of panic setting in for Visma as they need to pull Hayter back.
25km to the intermediate sprint now. The break have pulled out their gap to 1’14”. This is looking a bit better for the break and going for the bonus seconds. Hayter won’t have it his own way though at the sprint as Uriarte and Fernandez will be very keen to get as many points as possible.
For the first time in a while the gap goes above a minute as the break try and stay away.
70km to go
35km to the intermediate sprint with the gap at 52″. Kruijswijk and Mosca continue to set a strong tempo in the peloton with Netcompany-Ineos sat on their wheels as they have been all day to protect Tarling in white as well as Oscar Onley of the GC and Ben Turner for the stage.
Mechanical for Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The New Zealand time trial champion finished in a solid 9th place at 10″ down.
Gap now plummiting again at 44″. Hayter’s bonus second chances looking less and less likely.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) will decide whether he goes for a good GC placing at this race or not at the end of week one as the 2023 winner gages his form…
>>> ‘A top 10 on GC isn’t as important as a stage win’ – 2023 Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss to make definitive decision on overall bid at end of first week
It has been a very very easy first day in red for Pogačar so far.
❤️ TaRED Pogacar ❤️
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T13:51:43.836Z
The bunch don’t seem to want to catch the break just yet with the gap stabilised at 1’00” with 80km to go.
Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Kaden Groves targets green but has very tough competition to get it by the finish in Granada…
>>> ‘We’re looking for the green jersey, but it’ll be difficult’ – Kaden Groves tips Tadej Pogačar as potential rival in hunt for Vuelta a España points classification
About 60km to go to the intermediate sprint where 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds are available. Hayter will be very keen to get some of those. Any would put him into red if he is able to finish with the front runners at the end of the day. But, Visma and Lidl-Trek are pushing hard behind to try and not let that happen.
The riders cross the halfway point on the stage.
A huge amount of time has been hacked off the break’s lead and they are now 1’00” from the peloton.
The Belgian is now at the doctors car almost a minute out of the back of the peloton.
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He did get back on but as soon as the road starts to climb again Uijtdebroeks is out of the back again.
Uijtdebroeks has been dropped off the back after his crash. Feeling the crash he had earlier.
KOM (Col de Saint Andrieu)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Fernandez (BBH) 1pt
Bouwman will wear the polka dots tomorrow.
After 2 hours of racing the average speed has been 42.6kph.
111km to go, 1’29” to the peloton. They are on the climb of Col de Saint Andrieu.
The peloton aren’t allowing the break any good gap at all.
The climb is the Col de Saint Andrieu. It is 5km long with an average gradient of 4.8%. 3, 2 and 1 points on offer yet again.
The gap is down to 1’27” as they start the final categorised climb of the day.
Pogačar gets his first day in the red jersey today. The first of likely many over the next three weeks. He adds it to the 71 days in yellow at the Tour de France and the 20 days in pink at the Giro d’Italia. Yes, the year he won the Giro he wore pink from stage 2 after being beaten on stage one by now teammate Jhonatan Narváez.
The gap is reduced again to 1’42”.
🏁 155 km | Stage 2️⃣ – Etapa 2️⃣ | #LaVuelta26
💪 Two strong teams working together to bring back the breakaway for their sprinters
👊 @teamvismaleaseabike.com y @lidltrek.bsky.social trabajan en el pelotón para reducir la ventaja de la fuga
⏱️1’30” Pelotón— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T12:28:27.972Z
150km to go
The gap grows to 1’55” between the peloton and the four man break of Hayter, Bouwman, Uriate and Fernandez.
Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) and Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) are leading the way in the peloton.
Crash
Cian Uijtdebroeks (MOV)
The Belgian GC hope went down. No idea when as no information around but he appears to be back riding. Yet more bad luck for him, though.
160km to go
Into the final 100 miles of the stage and the gap is now stable at around 1’30”. The peloton are within striking distance for the intermediate sprint so Visma can deny Hayter a chance of taking red and keeping Van Aert’s dreams alive.
Van Aert missed out on his goal of red yesterday but can take red today if everything goes to plan…
>>> ‘I know I lost time in the corners’ – Wout van Aert’s dream of returning to red in the opening Vuelta a España TT falls short
43kph average speed in the first hour.
The gap continues to fall with the peloton now at just 1’32” from the leaders as Fernandez finally makes it a group of four out front.
In the break, Bouwman has experience of going for the mountains jersey in a Grand Tour. He won it at the Giro as well as two stages back in 2022.
Lidl-Trek join Visma-Lease a Bike on the front of the peloton. Pedersen would have to win the intermediate sprint and the stage to go level on time with Pogačar and Hayter.
I don’t know if that will give him red. Depends if Pogačar or Hayter finish below 15th in the stage or not as that is the Danes finishing position yesterday.
KOM (Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse)
1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Hayter (SOQ) 1pt
First points in the KOM standings handed out.
⚡️ First proper climb of this year’s Vuelta! But don’t worry, there is much more to come 😜💙 ¡Primer puerto de #LaVuelta26 para Bouwman en la lucha por el maillot azul!⛰ 3️⃣ 𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀̂𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐅-𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄1️⃣ 🇳🇱 Koen Bouwman – @GreenEDGEteam – 3p.2️⃣ 🇪🇸 Diego… pic.twitter.com/iLgpIkCKfyAugust 23, 2026
180km to go
Hayter, Bouwman and Uriate have 20″ on Fernandez but just 2’00” on the peloton led by Visma-Lease a Bike who want to give Wout Van Aert a chance to go into red at the end of the day. Van Aert starts today 9″ down in GC on Pogačar and Hayter. If Hayter gets any bonuses at the intermediate sprint, it will not be possible for Van Aert to go into red.
Fernandez is still pushing and is 55″ away from the front of the race, but the gap to the peloton is shrinking with the leaders now only holding 2’30” on the peloton with Fernandez now 1’35” ahead of the pack.
It is a long day out front for Hayter but the intermediate sprint, with 48km to go, has 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available. Any would see him take virtual red. But, there’s about 140km between him and that point in the race.
And Hayter joins the leaders Bouwman and Uriate with around 5km to the top of the climb.
It looks like the leaders are waiting for Hayter as the gap is shrinking rapidly to him but they have also lost 30″ to the peloton.
Bouwman and Uriate still have 33″ on Hayter despite having a big lead on the peloton with Fernandez still at 1’25”.
The riders are on the first climb of the day, the Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse. All the climbs have a little bit of Spanish to them as it is La Vuelta, that is why the Alto is there. Cat 3 climb at 13km with a gentle average gradient of 2.9%. There are 3, 2 and 1 points available at the top.
The leaders are being reported as Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma). They have a gap of 3’28” on the peloton.
Hayter is 35″ off the back of the leaders. He is not joined by Paret-Peintre as previously reported. Fernandez is now at 1’28” from the leaders but 2’00” ahead of the peloton. They have let Hayter go!
Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) is said to be in the second chase group along with teammate and second overall, Ethan Hayter!
Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) is in the third group on the road as he tries to bridge the 45″ gap to the leaders.
Suddenly, there’s groups strewn across the road with the two leaders out front with 1’10” gap on the peloton with two chase groups in the gap.
Its Slovenia central at La Vuelta this year! Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Roman Ermakov (Bahrain Victorious) having a chat in the bunch.
Two riders are clear of the bunch by 17″ but will surely want company.
But the first moves are swiftly caught.
Attacks firing off the front immediately to try and form the early breakaway.
214.3km to go
Racing gets underway in France now that the riders have left Monaco. The long race to Manosque begins.
💪 Here is the real start of the first classical road stage! Let’s gooo
😍 ¡Salida lanzada para la primera etapa en línea! ¡Vamos!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T11:02:56.570Z
Ethan Hayter is going to try and take red on today’s stage with tiny gap splitting him and Pogačar.
>>> ‘It’s not completely under my control but I’m going to try’ – After ultra-narrow TT defeat to Pogačar, Ethan Hayter throws hat in ring for red in Vuelta a España
The racing hasn’t got underway just yet as riders return to the peloton after various issues.
Mechanical for Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ) may delay things slightly.
The racing is due to start any moment now.
Jerseys:
Red – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)
Green – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)*
Polka dots – Technically not owned but worn by Callum Thornley (RBH)
White – Josh Tarling (NCI)
*Worn by – Ethan Hayter (SOQ)
The riders rolled out almost half an hour ago in Monaco.
📍𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎
💪 Stage 2️⃣ neutral start!
🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 2️⃣!
#LaVuelta26— @lavuelta.bsky.social (@lavuelta.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-23T10:24:43.335Z
Just around 20 minutes left of the neutralised section of today’s stage. All in all, with the neutral included, the riders are riding 235.3km today. A huge distance so early in the race.
It is another sunny day on the Mediterranean coast.
The neutralised section of today’s stage is a massive 21km long as they leave Monaco and head into France. Through Èze, top of the famous Col dÈze that recently saw the end of the Tour de France Femmes and into Nice before starting the race at the other side of the frequently visited city.
Its a happy birthday to Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility). The former Tour de l’Avenir winner turns 27 today.
Neutral start
The riders have rolled out of the start in Monaco. Hayter starts the race in the green skinsuit but on the same time as Pogačar. Could the British rider maybe take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint?
There are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available in Gréoux-les-Bains with just under 50km of the stage remaining. It would take a lot of managing by his Soudal-Quickstep team.
Full red but no custom bike just yet as he continues to ride the super lightweight Colnago that has almost no paint on the frame.
Red-hot ❤️ Al Rojo vivo📸 @cxcling | #LaVuelta26 | @TeamEmiratesUAE pic.twitter.com/BXojfh1kcWAugust 23, 2026
It feels like it is wrong but this is Tadej Pogačar’s first time in the red jersey at La Vuelta and he has gone full red, as you would. The last rider to lead a Grand Tour from stage 1 all the way through to the end was Gianni Bugno in 1990 at the Giro d’Italia. Can Pogačar pull off the achievement? Or will he try and give it away early to save his team?
The neutral start comes at midday local time, so the riders will be rolling out of Monaco in around 30 minutes time.
The riders are busy signing on and being presented to the crowd with local hero and Monégasque national champion, Victory Langellotti (XDS-Astana) after his switch from Netcompany-Ineos at the start of the month.
The opening road stage of this year’s Vuelta is an intriguing one. Over 3000 metres of climbing on the menu but only two categorised climbs, it is a tricky one to call. Likely suiting the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Kaden groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) but also brings in riders like Tadej Pogačar himself into the mix and a possible second stage win in as many days.
Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) put in a superb ride after eight horrendous days for him and his family.
>>> ‘I gave it everything I had’ – Eight days after brother Finlay’s death, Josh Tarling takes third in opening Vuelta a España time trial
It wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone last night that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took the win, but the margin of victory was incredible. Just 0.09 of a second split the five time Tour de France victor and the British TT champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) on the line in the principality famed for tight margins in Formula 1.
>>> Vuelta a España: Tadej Pogačar claims stage 1 time trial and takes the first leader’s jersey in Monaco
Hola! Welcome to live updates on stage 2 of La Vuelta a España here on Cyclingnews.
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