Van Aert extended his lead in the green jersey Tim de Waele/Getty ImagesSept. 4, 2026 Updated Wout van Aert took his first stage win of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana after prevailing in a two-up sprint with Valentin Paret-Peintre, cementing his grip on the race’s green jersey.The 31-year-old Belgian was part of a large breakaway that escaped the peloton early in stage 13, a 193km route from Almuñécar to Loja in Andalusia.Joined by Visma-Lease a Bike teammates Bruno Armirail and Matthew Brennan, the latter having already won three stages at this Vuelta, Van Aert made the decisive move over rolling terrain with three kilometres remaining.Only Frenchman Paret-Peintre, winner up the mythical Mont Ventoux at last year’s Tour de France, was able to follow — with the powerful Van Aert easily winning the sprint for the line. Brennan finished third in another excellent day for the 21-year-old Yorkshireman, having closed down numerous attacks on Van Aert’s behalf throughout the stage.
Van Aert’s victory extends his lead over Brennan to 65 points in the uncompetitive green jersey contest, with his only realistic rival, Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen, withdrawing from the race earlier this week.Behind the breakaway, all the general classification contenders finished safely — but seventh place Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose stole two minutes and 10 seconds on the peloton to move back into the podium hunt.Third-place Felix Gall, however, will be hurt by the withdrawal of his key mountain domestique Gregor Mühlberger. Ninth overall at the start of the day, the Austrian crashed heavily on a hairpin bend at the start of the stage.Saturday’s stage 14 ends with the 12km ascent of Sierra de la Pandera, whose steepest sections, topping out at 17 per cent, are difficult enough to forge more gaps in GC. Enric Mas leads the race by one minute and 45 seconds from Primoz Roglic.
