The third and final Grand Tour of the 2026 men’s cycling season began on the streets of Monaco on Saturday with a commanding, nail-biting performance from Tadej Pogačar.
A total of 184 riders arrived to ride one of the toughest-ever editions of the Vuelta a España and the steepest of all Grand Tours this year.
Some riders will be on the hunt for their very first stage win or perhaps a redemption victory, but for Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), one goal is clear – following in the footsteps of his greatest rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) and completing the Grand Tour set.
Pogačar wins by 0.09 seconds
Stage one brought out the time-trial specialists with a 9.4 kilometre individual TT, and plenty of young riders opted to kick off their Vuelta with an explosive performance.
Decathlon CMA CGM was especially on the hunt, with four different riders – Jordan Labrosse, Sander De Pestel, Oscar Chamberlain and Léo Bisiaux – topping the time sheets throughout the stage.
Visma’s Matthew Brennan, Tudor Pro Cycling’s Arthur Kluckers and Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe’s Callum Thornley held onto the lead for a while too until Netcompany Ineos’ Josh Tarling powered to the top.
Josh’s commanding performance was particularly special following the death of his brother Finlay, who passed away in a race accident just a week ago.
But Josh’s lead was not meant to be as Soudal–Quick-Step’s Ethan Hayter, the current national ITT champion of Britain, rode the route under 11 minutes to take the lead.
Pogačar subsequently pulled off one of his most nail-biting TT rides ever, pipping Hayter’s time by just 0.09 seconds and winning not only the stage but his first maillot rojo.
“It’s a weird feeling to win the opening time trial by such a small margin. I was not expecting it, and this red is a really nice colour,” Pogačar said in an interview after the race.
Despite high spirits, he acknowledged that keeping the red jersey would be a difficult task.
“It’s going to be tight for the red jersey and we can see some shuffling in the GC,” he added.
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Brennan produces debut sprint masterclass
Pogačar entered stage two wearing the red jersey, but the day offered something else – a masterclass in team tactics from rival team Visma.
Riders were in for a treat on a 214.3 km rolling route from Monaco to Manosque in France, during which the first attackers of Vuelta 2026 made a move to open a gap.
Behind them, Visma started kicking up the pace, pulling the bunch for star rider Wout van Aert.
Lidl–Trek also decided to reel in the breakaway, with the gap settling at around two minutes before it dropped under 12 seconds ahead of the bonus sprint.
Hayter managed to leave his breakaway companions behind to go after the six bonus seconds, with Van Aert taking four.
A high-paced peloton eventually bridged the gap, but Van Aert then launched an attack that exploded the race two kilometres from the finish line.
Only Pogačar managed to immediately respond and tail Van Aert, although Alessandro Romele of XDS Astana later joined the duo.
The three runaways were caught by the peloton in the final kilometre, yet that still worked in Visma’s favour as they simply switched gears to lead out Brennan instead.
Brennan then attacked to take his first Grand Tour stage win on his Grand Tour debut.
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Visma chasing redemption in Spain
The Briton admitted after the race that they were planning to put Van Aert in contention for the overall lead.
“We started off with the ambition of Wout trying to get in the red jersey. There was a nice opportunity to attack in the finale and Wout was really keen to do that,” Brennan said after the race.
But Visma had a back-up plan in case that plan fell apart, showing the team’s intent to make a statement.
“We had that plan and then I was always going to be in the background to do the sprint in case that kind of settled,” Brennan continued.
“And that’s exactly what happened. The guys sat up in front, and Christophe [Laporte] did a great job guiding me through the hecticness.
“I’m super happy to finish it off.”
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Van Aert vs Pogačar vs Roglič?
Visma may have entered the Vuelta hot on the wheels of Vingegaard’s win in last year’s edition, but the team is also keen to bring fortunes back into their favour after their Tour de France plans crumbled following the crash and exit of Vingegaard just last month.
The year’s final three-week odyssey moreover marks Van Aert’s return to the Spanish Grand Tour.
Van Aert endured a brutal 2024 season that ended in a crash at the Vuelta which not only dashed Visma’s hopes, but also took a toll on the Belgian’s health – both physically and mentally.
It remains to be seen whether Van Aert will be able to get his Vuelta redemption this year, but to do so, he’ll have to go head-to-head with Pogačar as well as veteran former Visma team-mate Primož Roglič, who is on a mission to claim his fifth Vuelta title.
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