Mikel Landa rolled back the clock on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España to claim his first Grand Tour stage win in nine years, as Enric Mas all-but sealed the red jersey.
The Soudal-QuickStep rider infiltrated a large breakaway on the penultimate day of the Spanish three-week race, moving away alongside Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
The 36-year-old attacked at the foot of the Collado del Alguacil and broke his rivals, riding solo to the win on a famous day for Spanish cycling.
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In the General Classification race behind, it was Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) who finished ahead of the rest, but Movistar‘s Mas comfortably defended his lead ahead of the final stage in Granada on Sunday.
The 186.8 kilometre stage was an attacking and chaotic affair, with around 50 riders attacking away from the bunch in the early stages, including several team-mates of riders high up in the General Classification. Several attacks from the General Classification were thwarted throughout the day, as Mas looked assured in the maillot rojo.
There were overall classification movements behind Mas, as Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) vaulted up the standings with a long-range attack and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) was dropped on the first major climb. Kuss jumped from 11th to 5th, ahead of Onley in the General Classification.
The podium remained the same as it was at the start of the day, with Mas finishing ahead of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gall, despite the Gall eating into Roglič’s advantage over him.
Landa’s was a fairytale comeback win following several injury setbacks over the last few years. The former Giro d’Italia and Vuelta stage-winner suffered a fractured pelvis in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this season.
“I feel very happy. Something that I’ve been looking for a long time and finally I win again,” Landa said afterwards.
“[It’s] really emotional. It’s been a really hard season, a really hard Vuelta for me and today was the last chance.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How it Happened
A 186km stage in Andalucia provided the final mountainous battleground to decide the 2026 Vuelta a España, with five climbs culminating with the brutal, beyond category Collado del Alguacil.
The early skirmishes were chaotic, with almost one third of the field which started the stage in La Calahorra forming various breakaway groups in front of the Movistar-led peloton. A leading breakaway of 11 enjoyed a maximum lead of just over 11 minutes as the final sequence of four climbs began.
It was Richard Carapaz (EF Education First-EasyPost) who began the attacking from the GC group, moving with 96km to go on the first ascent of the Puerto de el Purche, which would be tackled twice. He linked up with Kuss, stretching his lead out to 30 seconds, but more pertinently, dislodged Mas from his team-mates in the group, forcing Decathlon-CMA CGM to move to the front. The group was ripped into piece, and by the top of the Puerto de el Purche, just the general classification riders were left – although most had helpers up the road.
As the second ascent of the Puerto de el Purche began to bite, Carapaz had been swallowed up by the group. He had one team-mate for company, however, and drove the pace in a group that only contained Mas, Roglič, Gall and Kuss. Sitting 11th at the start of the day, Kuss found the perfect time to separate himself from the group.
On the penultimate ascent, the Puerto de el Duque, team-mates of each leader had drifted back from the breakaway as Kuss extended his advantage over the red jersey to almost three minutes. Callum Thornley, one of the break-out riders of this Vuelta, drove the pace on for Roglič at the bottom. However, the Slovenian didn’t appear to have the legs to attack.
Once again it was Carapaz who moved multiple times, but over the top of the Puerto de el Duque it was a stalemate between the top-four on GC. Up ahead, Landa, Debruyne and Johannessen had stretched clear of the rest of the breakaway and looked poised to challenge for the stage. Kuss, meanwhile, had taken more than five minutes over the red jersey with the support of Wout van Aert and was about to threaten Carapaz’s fourth place.
It would all come down to the steep slopes of the Collado del Alguacil, with its double-digit percentages. Up front, Landa attacked early and distanced both rivals on his way to victory.
In the GC group, more stasis, with domestiques setting the pace in the first half of the climb as their leaders looked unable, or unwilling, to attack.
It was Gall who made the first move in the final three kilometres, initially taking Mas with him before distancing the race leader.
Mas eventually crossed the line a few seconds down on Gall to keep his red jersey heading into the final stage in Granada on Sunday.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Results
Vuelta a España 2026, stage 20: La Calahorra > Collado del Alguacil (186.8km)
1. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal-QuickStep in 04:58:01
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +47s
3. Ramses Debruyne (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech, + 1:27
4. Pau Miquel (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, +3:00
5. Urko Berrade (Esp) Equipo Kern Pharma, +4:12
6. Jan Hirt (Cze) NSN Cycling, +4:18
7. Jørgen Nordhgagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:35
8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, same time
9. Walter Calzoni (Ita) Pinarello-Q36.5, +4:48
10. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS-Astana, +4:53
General Classification after stage 20
1. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar Team, in 70:56:58
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:15
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +2:44
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +6:54
5. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +8:45
6. Oscar Onley (GBr) Netcompany Ineos, +9:28
7. Jakob Omrzel (Slo) Bahrain Victorious, +10:38
8. Clément Berthet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, +11:41
9. Cristián Rodríguez (Spa) XDS Astana, +11:59
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +14:40
