Britain’s Matthew Brennan claimed his third stage victory at the 2026 Vuelta a España with a late sprint into Lorca, becoming the first rider since Tadej Pogačar in 2019 to win three stages on his debut Grand Tour, as Enric Mas retained the overall race lead.
Britain’s Matthew Brennan sprinted to his third win at the 2026 Vuelta a España on Wednesday, powering to victory on stage 11 to complete a remarkable hat-trick on his Grand Tour debut. The 21-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike rider held off France’s Bryan Coquard and Belgium’s Jordi Meeus at the finish of the 153.8km route from Cartagena to Lorca. Overall leader Enric Mas of Spain retained the red jersey, holding a one minute 18 second lead over Slovenia’s Primož Roglič, with Britain’s Oscar Onley sitting fourth overall, just over a minute further back.
A historic Grand Tour debut
Brennan’s win in Lorca makes him the first rider since Tadej Pogačar in 2019 to claim three stage victories on his debut Grand Tour, an especially notable achievement given he is only 21. He has now recorded 22 professional victories since turning professional with Visma-Lease a Bike at the start of 2025.
His three Vuelta wins, coming on Stages 2, 5 and 11, have not been confined to a single type of finish. His first victory came via an uphill sprint in Manosque, while his win on Stage 5 followed another fast finish after a difficult, windy day of racing.
Brennan held up three fingers as he crossed the line in Lorca, celebrating the trio of stage wins. “I’m with a team full of massive champions,” he said afterwards. “You’ve got guys who have been on podiums in Grand Tours and won them as well, and you’ve also got guys who have won big classics in some huge races. The boys did a fantastic job within that last 10km to really keep us in the right place, in the right position, out of trouble. And we crossed the line first, so we’re super happy.”
How the stage unfolded
Wout van Aert played a significant role in setting up Brennan’s latest victory, leading him into the final sprint before continuing through the finish himself to claim fifth place and collect further points in the points classification battle. Brennan’s team had to recover from a difficult previous stage before reasserting control, with Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis among the teams working to shut down breakaway attempts throughout the day.
Conditions were challenging for much of the stage, with the peloton reaching speeds approaching 46km/h and strong winds raising concerns about possible echelons forming. At one stage, a large group at the back of the peloton was dropped by around 40 seconds before the race came back together. Two notable crashes occurred during the stage, involving Kevin Vermaerke and Hamish McKenzie, though Vermaerke was able to continue riding.
The finale proved technically demanding, with tight, twisting streets through Lorca. Brennan was briefly pushed back during the positioning battle before Van Aert helped bring him back towards the front of the bunch. Brennan launched his winning sprint with roughly 150 metres remaining and won comfortably once he opened up his acceleration.
Pedersen forced out through illness
Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen withdrew from the predominantly flat stage, which had been earmarked as one for the sprinters, due to illness. His team later confirmed the withdrawal was the result of an infection requiring antibiotics, rather than an unexplained illness, with Pedersen now set to focus on recovering ahead of the World Championships in Montreal later this month.
The general classification picture
The overall standings remained unchanged following stage 11, though Roglič’s position continues to grow in significance. The four-time Vuelta champion sits just 1:18 behind Mas and is being backed by his team to improve further during the race’s final week, having recently returned from an injury sustained when he was hit by a car.
Britain’s Oscar Onley remains fourth overall at 2:20 behind Mas, with his form having improved notably after recovering from illness earlier in the race. He recently said that Stage 9 marked the first day he felt completely back to normal.
Looking ahead to the mountains
Thursday’s 12th stage will see riders tackle 166.6km through the mountains from Vera, facing five categorised climbs, including the double ascent of Velefique and a summit finish atop Calar Alto. The stage is expected to provide a much clearer indication of whether Mas can continue to defend the red jersey against Roglič and the rest of the general classification contenders.
Stage 11 result
- Matthew Brennan (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) 3hrs 17mins 18secs
- Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) Same time
- Jordi Meeus (Bel/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)
- Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den/Uno-X Mobility)
- Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike)
- Hugo Hofstetter (Fra/NSN Cycling Team)
- Bastien Tronchon (Fra/Groupama-FDJ United)
- Alessandro Romele (Ita/XDS Astana)
- Matevz Govekar (Slo/Bahrain Victorious)
- Orluis Aular (Ven/Movistar)
General classification after stage 11
- Enric Mas (Esp/Movistar) 35hrs 59mins 02secs
- Primož Roglič (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) +1min 18secs
- Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +1min 39secs
- Oscar Onley (GB/Netcompany Ineos) +2mins 20secs
- Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +3mins 26secs
- Mattias Skjelmose (Den/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 55secs
- Sepp Kuss (US/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 09secs
- Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana Team) +4mins 39secs
- Gregor Mühlberger (Aut/Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +7mins 33secs
- Jakob Omrzel (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) +8mins 05secs
