Twenty-one-year old Matthew Brennan won stage two of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday with a stunning uphill burst that demolished his rival sprinters, including Tour de France green jersey Mads Pedersen.Brennan emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in the peloton last season — and is seen by Visma-Lease a Bike as a long-term successor to Wout Van Aert — with the Yorkshireman competing in his first Grand Tour at this Vuelta.Tadej Pogacar, meanwhile, held onto the red jersey during a day in which he was put under significant pressure from Ethan Hayter, temporarily losing the virtual race lead on the road.Sunday’s 202km stage from Monaco to Manosque was expected to finish in a reduced bunch sprint, but was hilly enough for a breakaway to be given encouragement.Soudal-QuickStep’s Hayter, who missed out on the race lead by just 0.09 seconds on Saturday, attacked in a bid to take the race lead — and by taking six bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint, the British rider put himself into the virtual red jersey.
1️⃣ 🇬🇧 Ethan Hayter – @soudalquickstep | 20 p. – 6"2️⃣ 🇧🇪 Wout van Aert – @vismaleaseabike | 17 p. – 4"
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 23, 2026Visma-Lease a Bike subsequently drove the pace of the peloton in a bid to set up their fearsome twin-pronged sprint attack of Wout Van Aert and Brennan, with the leading quartet easily caught.
