{"id":2134368,"date":"2026-09-08T15:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2134368"},"modified":"2026-09-08T15:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:23:26","slug":"vuelta-a-espana-stage-16-brennan-and-van-aert-stampede-to-win-no-6-for-visma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2134368","title":{"rendered":"Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a Stage 16: Brennan and Van Aert Stampede to Win No. 6 for Visma"},"content":{"rendered":"
Updated September 8, 2026 10:23AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Matthew Brennan made it four wins at his debut Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old grand tour rookie was given a luxury leadout by Wout van Aert in the sprint final of stage 16 on Tuesday before he kicked to a near-uncontested win.<\/p>\n
Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) finished second, several bike lengths back. Vito Braet (Intermarch\u00e9-Lotto) nabbed third for one of the best results of his career.<\/p>\n
Race leader Enric Mas (Movistar) and all his GC rivals came to the line safely as the Vuelta rushes into its decisive final block of racing through Andaluc\u00eda and into Granada.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Visma-Lease a Bike is making hay without a GC leader<\/h2>\nVan Aert (in green, center) executed a perfect leadout for Brennan on stage 16 of the Vuelta.<\/span> (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Brennan-Van Aert double-punch has proven brutally effective through this Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
Without top-name sprint rivals or a GC leader to worry about, Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s deadly duo has combined to win six stages in total (four with Brennan, two with Van Aert).<\/p>\n
After Brennan helped set up Van Aert for two breakaway wins over the weekend, it was the Belgian\u2019s turn to play superdomestique on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Visma-Lease a Bike controlled all through the stage before Van Aert lit the jets on his leadout at around 300m to go.<\/p>\n
Brennan made the finish look easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable, four victories here. The plan was for one,\u201d Brennan said at the finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team we\u2019re now on six \u2013 I think \u2013 I\u2019ve lost count we\u2019ve won so many,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
Brennan has marked himself as the new WorldTour supersprinter with his meteoric rise.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
However, he\u2019s barely been able to miss at this Vuelta.<\/p>\n
Van Aert is proving the ultimate sprint pilot, and Brennan knows it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you can compete,\u201d Brennan said when asked about his VIP sidekick.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real big shame we\u2019ve lost Christophe [Laporte], but it\u2019s still unbelievable what we can do even when we\u2019re a man down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really trusted Wout, and I followed his wheel all the way,\u201d Brennan continued. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible he can put you in such a perfect position in such a chaotic race.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mas moves one day closer to coveted Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a victory<\/h2>\n
The result Tuesday leaves Mas 2:06 ahead of Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) on GC. Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) continues in third, just four seconds back on Gall.<\/p>\n
Mas now faces just the five most crucial days of his career.<\/p>\n
A sprint stage, time trial, two mountain stages, and a final romp through Granada separate the 31-year-old Spaniard from a dream home grand tour win.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a continues to cook in first of two sprint stages<\/h2>\nRed jersey Enric Mas kept a low profile on Tuesday. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The decisive final week of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a started Tuesday with the first of two back-to-back sprint stages.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s ride south through Andaluc\u00eda to Palos de La Frontera packed the tougher parcours of the week\u2019s sprint double-header.<\/p>\n
The 181km stage stacked the majority of its 2,100m of climbing into the first 120km before a mostly flat 60km gallop to the Mediterranean coast.<\/p>\n
The bright blue Spanish skies were \u2013 no surprise \u2013 boiling hot. The mercury nudged up to 35 degrees C as the bunch faced another day of brutal conditions.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Burning sun and a bunch sprint<\/h2>\nThe day\u2019s early break was left to cook at the front of the stage.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
This stage was destined for a sprint from the moment course designers sketched it out on paper.<\/p>\n
Visma-Lease a Bike stepped up to ensure that\u2019s exactly how it unfolded \u2013 a sixth stage-win was at stake.<\/p>\n
The Killer Bees controlled the bunch through the opening hours of the stage. The doomed early break of five riders \u2013 including USA\u2019s Kevin Vermaerke \u2013 was allowed no more than a three-minute gap.<\/p>\n
The typical sprint blueprint was only briefly disrupted soon after the break was caught at around 22km to go.<\/p>\n
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe mobbed to the front with Rogli\u010d and six of his lieutenants as moderate crosswinds swept across the course.<\/p>\n
But after working all day for Brennan and Van Aert, Visma was quick to shut down the threat of Red Bull\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
This was a day for the sprinters.<\/p>\n
Visma-Lease a Bike made certain of it.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Another flat finish arrives on stage 17 on Wednesday. Don\u2019t be surprised if Brennan makes \u201cfour\u201d a \u201cfive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a stage 16 results<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated September 8, 2026 10:23AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2294161193-scaled.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated September 8, 2026 10:23AM Matthew Brennan made it four wins at his debut Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Tuesday. The 21-year-old grand tour rookie was given a luxury leadout by Wout van Aert in the sprint final of stage 16 on Tuesday before he kicked to a near-uncontested win. Bryan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2134368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2134368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2134368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2134368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2134368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Van](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2294159102.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Red](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2294136266.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2294139163.jpg?width=2048&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")