Vuelta a España Stage 21, 2026 - Week 3 Final Summary and Analysis

Stage 16, 181 kilometers, 2,200 meters of climbing.

There was a break of five, fairly controlled.

Kevin Vermaerke in there from UAE.

That's gonna be a pattern this week.

But the peloton was controlled by Visma.

They've got Wout in green.

They've got the best sprinter, Matthew Brennan.

They kept the break at 20K to go, destined for a field sprint.

Wout gave a lead out to Matthew Brennan that I believe I could have won off his wheel.

I believe that you could have won off his wheel, whether you're a cyclist or not.

Like, he dropped off Matthew Brennan 150 meters to go.

Brennan, of course, sealed the deal, no problem.

Wout's doing this thing where he's in the breakaways, he's collecting the intermediate points for the green jersey, but to help clinch that green jersey, he still wants to finish high in the final sprints, which is a tall order for really anyone on the planet other than Wout, 'cause normally you do the lead out and you pull the parachute.

You go backwards 30 spots.

Uh, he's saving the lead out till the very end, and then he's still sprinting.

[laughs] I said this in the last Vuelta recap.

Wout loves this Vuelta.

Basically, what happened here is you take the seven to nine guys in the world tour who can handle Wout van Aert, it's a very short list, and they're all gone.

They're not here.

They did the tour, and they're taking a break, and Wout is now, he's six people again.

He's 2020 Tour de France Wout, where he can just be anywhere he wants, anytime.

He can win a mountain stage, he can win a field sprint.

He's a monster.

He's having a blast.