Spain’s Enric Mas heads into the final week of the Vuelta wearing the red jersey as the overall leader. As classics specialist Wout van Aert claimed his second stage win, the 31-year-old successfully defended his lead on the shortened 15th stage, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. Van Aert won the 110.2-kilometre stage from Palma de Rio to Córdoba in a sprint from a five-man breakaway group, ahead of the Italian Alessandro Romele and the Belgian Thibau Nys. The stage had been shortened by a good 80 kilometres due to the high temperatures.
Ahead of the second rest day, Mas leads the general classification by 2 minutes and 6 seconds ahead of the Austrian Felix Gall. Four-time overall winner Primož Roglič from Slovenia is in third place, 2 minutes and 10 seconds behind.
Germany’s hope, Marco Brenner, who had won the 14th stage on Saturday with a mountain finish at Sierra de la Pandera, played no part on Sunday. It was Germany’s first stage victory in the Tour of Spain since Lennard Kämna three years ago.
Mas has been in the lead since Pogacar’s crash
Mas has been wearing the red jersey in the Vuelta since superstar Tadej Pogacar was forced to withdraw following a crash on the eighth stage. The 31-year-old, who for a long time failed to live up to Spanish hopes in stage races, could still go on to claim his first major victory. He has previously finished second three times and third once in the overall classification of the Vuelta.
On Tuesday, the Vuelta continues with the 16th stage, covering 181.1 kilometres from Cortegana to La Rabida. The sprinters can look forward to a bunch sprint. The tour concludes on 13 September in Granada.
Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
