'Tailor-made for Wout' - Van Aert targets Vuelta stage 13 as Visma face tricky task

Visma | Lease a Bike have won a quarter of the stages so far in the 2026 Vuelta a España, with Matthew Brennan being the rider to lift his arm in the air on all three occasions. 

It’s been a remarkable Grand Tour debut for the 21-year-old Briton, who became the first rider to complete a hat-trick of victories in his maiden three-week adventure since Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at the Vuelta back in 2019.

Though, it's not a major surprise when you consider the immense talent of Brennan, but also when you throw into the mix the fact that he has been on the receiving end of some impeccable leadouts from his Visma teammates Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert. 

Brennan’s most recent victory on stage 11 to Lorca was a prime example of how much of a difference a good leadout can make, as Van Aert piloted the Briton around a tricky late corner before setting him up perfectly for victory.

Despite his selflessness so far during this Vuelta, it’s no secret that Van Aert also holds his own ambitions of a stage victory, something which would bolster his commanding lead in the points classification. 

A first opportunity for the Belgian came and went on stage 10 to Elche de la Sierra. It was a difficult finale which left Visma with their work cut out, having to nullify a flurry of attacks in the final 30km. 

In the end, the Dutch team got the sprint finish that they had desired, but Van Aert was denied by Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) and had to settle for fourth.

Nonetheless, as Brennan said after missing out on stage 8 to Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), “The beauty of a Grand Tour" is that "we can always try again,” and that will be the mindset for Van Aert ahead of stage 13, which he looks well suited to on paper. 

The stage in question takes the riders 193.2km from Almuñécar to Loja, with the route classified as a medium-mountain day.  

However, the majority of the climbing takes place within the first half of the stage. This lends itself to multiple scenarios including a breakaway or a reduced sprint finish, both scenarios where Van Aert will fancy his chances. 

"There is a fair bit of climbing along the way, but the second half of the stage should suit me, so I hope to be up there today,” Van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws. 

With three categorised climbs on the menu, including a category one ascent, the Alto de la Venta de la Cebada, there are plenty of points also available for the mountains classification. 

Van Aert beat leader Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) to maximum points atop the first three climbs on stage 12, signalling his possible intent to target the polka dot jersey alongside the green. However, he affirmed that his priority for Friday is stage victory.

“Today, the stage win is the priority,” said Van Aert.

Meanwhile, Van Aert’s Sports Director Maarten Wynants had no qualms in stating that the stage is one that the Belgian is capable of winning. 

However, Wynants acknowledged the challenge of controlling the race dynamics on a stage such as this, with Visma also one rider short after Ben Tulett abandoned ahead of stage 12.

“This stage is tailor-made for Wout, but the last few days have shown that winning isn't that simple,” Wynants told Het Nieuwsblad.  

“There are other contenders, and winning when you're the top favourite is very difficult. This stage is impossible to control; that’s the tricky part. Especially with a peloton that doesn't want to sprint, last time, we had to do all the work ourselves.”

Wynants highlighted the absence of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) who departed the race ahead of stage 11, explaining how Lidl-Trek may have also helped the Dutch team control things for a sprint finish. 

"Here, we’re missing a very strong Pedersen; with him there, we could control the race with two very good teams,” he said. 

With many teams potentially believing in their chances of a stage win from a breakaway, Wynants also suggested that it’s possible that the breakaway formation taking a long time could help Visma’s chances. 

“Of course, you never know; they might end up chasing each other for 100 kilometres, in which case we could control it.”