This is the 21-year-old’s fifth victory in this Vuelta a España. As on most days, his rivals didn’t stand a chance. The prestigious sprint finish – comparable to the finishes in Naples at the Giro or in Bordeaux at the Tour de France – was high on Visma’s list of priorities. After all, two years ago, when the race last stopped off here, Wout van Aert was pipped at the post by the narrowest of margins.

“We didn’t want that to happen again,” said Brennan after his victory, in which he had to manage without his own sprint train this time. Although Van Aert was still with him in the final, after the depleted team had had to work so hard, he preferred to drop Brennan onto the back wheel of the opposition rather than lead the sprint himself. “The lads did a brilliant job of setting everything up again. For me, it feels as though I just have to finish off the easiest part,” said Brennan.

After 185 kilometres from Dos Hermanas, a satellite town of Seville, he celebrated his twelfth win of the season. Perhaps the final stage of the Vuelta will offer another chance for the climber-sprinters. For now, however, it is the general classification riders who are back in the spotlight. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) continues to lead the general classification. Van Aert retains the green jersey, whilst Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain – Victorious) holds onto the mountains’ jersey.

2026 Vuelta a España – Results of Stage 17

Here’s how the 17th stage of the 2026 Vuelta a España unfolded

Once again, the very first breakaway attempt succeeded – and once again, things could hardly have gone better for Visma | Lease a Bike and Brennan. With Enzo Paleni (Groupama – FDJ United), Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), only three riders broke away from the peloton, with the latter being reeled in again quite quickly. The remaining leading duo were easy to control and were therefore soon granted a lead of more than four minutes.

However, when nine more riders attempted to break away 25 kilometres after the start, Visma immediately put a stop to it. This was because sprint stage winner Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) was among the breakaway riders. After that, things settled down. As the race progressed, Cofidis and Red Bull joined in the chase and took over much of the pacemaking from Visma – although the breakaway’s lead initially grew to more than five minutes as a result.

As they approached the 50-kilometre mark, however, the peloton reduced the gap to two minutes once again. That was still the case at the halfway point. With 15 kilometres to go, Paleni shook off his pursuer and took a lead of just under a minute into the final ten kilometres. Three kilometres from the finish, he was caught by the chasing group, who showed excellent timing. Uno-X played a key role in this.

The Norwegian team then set the pace in the sprint for Cort, who looked strong for a long time. But then Meeus – who had to take the long way round the Dane’s lead-out man – and Brennan, who only set off from Cort’s rear wheel at the last moment, overtook him.