Johannessen wins Granada thriller on stage 21 as Mas seals Vuelta title

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) outsprinted Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) on stage 21 of the Vuelta a España in Granada as Enric Mas (Movistar) sealed his first Grand Tour title. 

After plenty of speculation on Saturday, the Vuelta organisers confirmed on Sunday that the final lap of the finishing circuit in Granada would be neutralised for the GC, meaning Mas would mathematically secure the Vuelta crown with 9.8km to go.

As a result, when the action ignited with two laps remaining, Mas and the fellow GC riders formed a second peloton, riding at a more controlled tempo behind those who wished to contest the stage honours. 

Four ascents of the Alto de la Alhambra saw the first peloton whittle in size after multiple attacks, leaving a group of twelve riders at the front with five kilometres remaining, which also included Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike). 

It was up to the Briton to mark the attacks in the closing kilometres, and a dangerous group opened an advantage with 2km to go, as the rest of the group looked at Brennan. 

In the end, it was Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana), and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) who were clear under the flamme rouge. 

Johannessen led out the sprint with Romele locked on the wheel, as Debruyne lost contact. 

Despite the fast-finishing Italian on his wheel, the Norwegian managed to hold off Romele to take his first Grand Tour stage win, and Uno-X’s second of the Vuelta.

Behind, Mas was able to savour the most significant moment of his career alongside his Movistar teammates, as the 2026 Vuelta drew to a close. 

Mas’ final margin of victory in the GC stood at 2:15 over four-time champion Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who secured his first three-week podium since winning the Spanish Grand Tour in 2024. 

Meanwhile, for the second time this season, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) secured a Grand Tour podium, finishing third, 2:44 behind Mas in the final standings.

Van Aert wrapped up the green jersey, while Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) claimed the mountain classification, with Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) securing the white jersey as best young rider.

The stage began with a tribute from the peloton for five riders who have enjoyed accomplished careers, but will be retiring at the end of the season: Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), David de la Cruz (Pinarello-Q36.5), Jesús Herrada (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Steven Kruijswijk (Visma | Lease a Bike). 

Once the peloton rolled out for the start, the usual final stage festivities began with the riders and teams able to enjoy their moments at the front of the peloton to celebrate three weeks of hard-fought racing.

Inside the final 90km, Movistar established themselves towards the front of the peloton, setting an increased tempo, but one that was still calm compared to the previous twenty stages.

The riders passed the finish line in Granada for the first time with 41.8km remaining as Movistar continued to lead the peloton onto the first of four laps around the city.

Movistar initially set a controlled tempo on the first lap, keeping a lid on the action for the later laps. However, with around 30km to go, more teams looked to move towards the front, which naturally saw the pace continue to increase as the fight for the stage victory began. 

Groupama-FDJ United led the peloton up the Alto de la Alhambra on the second lap as Movistar and the GC riders started to drift further back.

The first attack came from Tronchon with 27km remaining, which created a selective group of eight riders, including Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Milan Vader (Pinarello-Q36.5), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Axel Laurence (Netcompany-Ineos) and Romele.

There were plenty of riders looking to get involved behind as a reduced chasing peloton formed, including the likes of Van Aert. However, teams such as Lidl-Trek, Soudal Quick-Step and XDS Astana, who had riders up front, positioned themselves at the front of the chasing group, interrupting the chase. 

With 20km remaining and two laps to go, the leaders held a slender advantage of less than ten seconds on the chasing pack, while the second peloton featuring Mas and the other GC riders trailed at a more pedestrian pace.

The leaders were caught on the climb with 18km remaining, before the counter-attacks started to be launched, with Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) opening a brief gap before it was closed by Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek).

Bahrain-Victorious set a ferocious tempo on the climb for the final time inside 10km to go, setting up Bilbao for an attack with 9km, as Van Aert was distanced from the chasing group.

Bilbao opened up a solid gap, but Netcompany-Ineos set up Laurence for a counter-attack, and the Frenchman went over the top of the veteran Basque rider. 

There were more struggles for Visma as Brennan also started to struggle, but the Briton fought to rejoin the chasers as Laurence was caught by the group which now contained only eleven riders with 5km remaining.

The group to contest the stage win contained Brennan, Nys, Laurence, Bilbao, Widar, Paret-Peintre, Romele, Tronchon, Buitrago, Johannessen, Pau Marti (NSN), and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).