Gall secures Vuelta a Burgos as Pellizzari wins at Lagunas de Neila
Felix Gall withstood Oscar Onley's late charge to claim the first stage race victory of his career, while Giulio Pellizzari found his rhythm with victory on the traditional summit finish at Lagunas de Neila.
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Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won stage 5 of the Vuelta a Burgos atop Lagunas de Neila, while Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) did enough to secure final overall victory.
Gall had a lead of just six seconds coming into the final stage, and with time bonuses on offer at the finish, he was understandably wary of Oscar Onley’s greater explosiveness in the finale.
Decathlon CMA CGM laid down a brisk tempo on the upper portion of Lagunas de Neila, with Callum Scotson and Léo Bisiaux teeing up Gall’s first attack with 3km to go. Onley and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) were immediately on his wheel, and that pair tracked two subsequent accelerations from the race leader.
Behind, Pellizzari, Mathys Rondel (Tudor) and Enric Mas (Movistar) battled to get back on terms, and they were helped by the game of cat and mouse among Gall, Onley and Ciccone.
Pellizzari attacked as soon as he bridged back up, but his move was snuffed out by Ciccone. Another lull ensued, allowing Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to rejoin the front group, and his crisp acceleration with 1.5km to go was the trigger for Pellizzari to try again.
After tracking Torres, Pellizzari kicked again soon afterwards, and he entered the final kilometre with a 15-second lead on Gall et al.
Onley launched a rasping acceleration with 500m to go, briefly distancing Gall, but the race leader calmly made his way back on.
Pellizzari would hold on for stage victory, while Onley outsprinted Gall for second place. It wasn't enough to dislodge Gall from the lead, however, and the Austrian claimed the first stage race victory of his career.
How it unfolded
The fifth and final stage of the 2026 Vuelta a Burgos began in warm conditions in the historic town of Caleruega with the news that two of the peloton's biggest prospects, Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), didn’t take to the start.
It was an aggressive opening to the stage with multiple attacks and an early split in the peloton. The Burgos Burpellet BH duo Sergio Geovani Chumil and Josh Burnett were caught in a crash, with the latter forced to abandon the race initially, before Chumil did so later in the stage.
The most established move that went clear in the first 50km was a 16-rider group that included stage 2 winner and former race leader Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) as well as stage 1 and 4 winner Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike).
Enric Mas (Movistar), Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United), who also featured in the top 10, made the initial move too.
Naturally, the group was not allowed to remain clear, particularly with the presence of Onley, who started the stage in third overall, just seven seconds behind.
The dangerous move was eventually reeled in, which enabled a 15-rider counter move to go clear, including Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), Kévin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Lennart Jasch (Tudor), who was the highest-placed rider in the GC, 1:38 from Felix Gall.
Once the breakaway had opened up an advantage of around a minute, Decathlon CMA CGM and Netcompany-Ineos ensured that the gap did not grow much bigger.
With little over 50km to go, there was a crash in the breakaway involving Eulálio and Jasch. Both riders were able to remount, but were collected by the peloton.
The head of the race became more selective when Vermaerke and Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) pushed clear on an uncategorised climb with just under 30km to go, distancing their breakaway companions.
Ultimately it was Vermaerke who was the last man standing from the breakaway on the Alto de Rozavientos, as his teammate Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Niels Driesen (Lotto-Intermarché) accelerated from the peloton with 21km remaining.
Sivakov and Driesen quickly bridged across the 20-second gap to his American teammate, leaving two UAE riders out front alongside the 20-year-old Belgian.
Sivakov, Vermaerke and Driesen led onto the final ascent to Lagunas de Neila, but Decathlon CMA CGM's pace-making cut the gap to half a minute with 7km to go.
With 5km to go, Vermaerke swung off, leaving his teammate Sivakov and Driesen out in front, but Lidl-Trek had cut the gap to 15 seconds as they chased on behalf of Giulio Ciccone.
Driesen pressed on alone with 4km remaining, but it was clear that the stage honours would fall to the GC group, which was closing in rapidly.
Result: Vuelta a Burgos stage 5
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