Landa conquers Collado del Alguacil as Mas survives Vuelta's toughest day

Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) soloed to victory on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España atop Collado del Alguacil, while Enric Mas (Movistar) is on the cusp of final overall victory after emerging unscathed from a tumultuous day of racing.

The penultimate stage of the Vuelta was also the toughest, and it was a day of multiple storylines, from Landa’s triumph to Sepp Kuss’ dramatic bid for a podium spot, from Richard Carapaz’s aggression to Mas’ mastery of all situations.

Landa got up the road early and he was among the last three men standing from the break at the foot of the wickedly steep 8km haul to the finish. The Basque dropped Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and then Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) with 7km to go to claim his first Vuelta stage victory since he won the epic in Andorra back in 2015. Johannessen came home second at 47 seconds, while Debruyne took third at 1:27.

The race for the podium was blown open with 100km to race on the first of two ascents of the Puerto de El Purche, where Carapaz and Kuss began their onslaughts and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) was distanced from the red jersey group.

Kuss went again on the second ascent of El Purche and he would link up with Visma teammate Wout van Aert to make a charge up the overall standings. Kuss began the day in 11th overall, but at one point he moved to within touching distance of the podium after gaining five minutes on the red jersey group. The American would fall short after struggling on the final ascent, but his effort contributed to the chaos of the day.

Carapaz was a constant aggressor in a bid to dislodge Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) from third place, but the Austrian responded time and again to the EF Education-EasyPost man’s accelerations, and then hit him with one of his own on the final ascent. He did enough to secure his second Grand Tour podium finish of the season after placing second at the Giro d’Italia.

When Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe placed a succession of riders up the road in the opening kilometres, it looked as though Primož Roglič was planning a grand offensive on Mas’ maillot rojo. But in the final reckoning, the Slovenian didn’t have the legs to trouble Mas, who was able to rely on teammate Pablo Castrillo dropping back from the break on the final ascent.

On the upper reaches of Collado del Alguacil, it was Gall who attacked. Mas instantly followed, knowing that every pedal stroke was taking him further clear of Roglič and closer to final overall victory.

For the first time in this Vuelta, Mas met his match when he was distanced by Gall. For the first time, he betrayed real signs of suffering, but he kept Gall in his sights all the way to the summit to limit the damage to 20 seconds.

Mas will ride into Granada as Vuelta champion on Sunday, while Roglič did enough to save second place ahead of Gall and Carapaz. 

Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike) was a man on a mission on stage 20, and the Belgian was an early attacker in the company of Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). Uno-X Mobility were equally keen to go on the offensive, and their forcing in the fraught opening kilometres forced a split that briefly saw Mas caught out. 

The front group was now composed of 14 riders, including six from Uno-X, Van Aert, Oliveira and – crucially – Roglič’s Red Bull teammates Finn Fisher-Black and Gianni Vermeersch.

That saw Movistar mount an onslaught that would eventually put Raúl García Pierna up the road in a chasing group ahead of the first ascent of the Puerto de Los Blancares. Behind, the gap would stretch out, though Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Chris Hamilton would be forced to abandon after a heavy crash.

Van Aert was beaten to the points atop Los Blancares by Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious), and the dust appeared to be settling behind. A 30-strong chasing group that included Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) was at two minutes, while the peloton was content to let the gap slide out towards eight minutes.

The race took on a new dynamic on the first of two ascents of the Puerto de El Purche. After Sepp Kuss (Visma) triggered the attacking, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) took the plunge with a wicked acceleration with 95km to go.

That move would leave Mas isolated as the red jersey was forced to follow when Gall and Roglič gave chase. They would catch Carapaz and Kuss over the top, but Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) was distanced, and he would never see the GC men again.

Van Aert led the race each time over El Purche, and there was a sense of déjà in the red jersey group the second time up too. Kuss slipped away again, this time establishing a sizeable lead over Mas et al, while Carapaz flung himself onto the offensive all over again. Again, Gall, Mas and Roglič were careful to track the Ecuadorian, while Onley was now shipping hefty time behind.

Mas briefly had company when García Pierna dropped back after El Purche, while Roglič could rely on first Vermeersch and then Luke Tuckwell on the lower slopes of the penultimate ascent, El Duque. The top two would quickly be locked in a mano a mano contest once the gradient began to bite, where Roglič came to the front, though it seemed the Slovenian’s intent was to control the race rather than trouble Mas at that point.

Carapaz remained the great disruptor, and his teammate Juan Rodríguez dropped back from the chasing group to set the tempo for the Ecuadorian, Mas, Roglič and Gall in the red jersey group.

Midway up the climb, Carapaz began his next volley of attacks, but Gall was careful to mark every move and Mas and Roglič were able to follow.

There were shades of the 2025 Giro near the top of El Duque, when a standoff between Carapaz and Gall saw the red jersey group grind almost to a halt. All the while, their hesitation was allowing Kuss draw ever closer to the podium, with the American almost five minutes up the road by the summit and now with Van Aert for company.

Out in front, the break had fragmented, with Landa, Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) forging clear and cresting the summit with 4:45 on the Kuss group and 9:20 on the red jersey group.

Aided by Van Aert, Kuss continued to gain all the way to the foot of the final 8km haul to the summit, where he was 3:20 down on the leaders while the Mas group was at 8:50.