Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The partnership of veteran all-rounder Wout van Aert and rookie sprinter Matthew Brennan has combined again for a Vuelta a Espana stage win, their sixth of this year’s race.
Briton Brennan, 21, outsprinted the pack in the final straight to claim stage 16 in Palos de la Frontera on Spain’s southern coast, his fourth victory in his first grand tour.
As with the previous ones he was skilfully delivered to the front of the peloton by Belgian Van Aert, 31, who has also won a brace of stages for Visma Lease-A-Bike this race, aided by Brennan.
“It’s unbelievable. Four victories, and the plan was for one,” said Brennan who stretched four fingers out as he crossed the line. “For the team, it’s six, I’ve lost count, we’ve won so many.”
Lanzamiento perfecto de Wout van Aert y sprint superlativo de Brennan para llevarse la cuarta. Revive el último kilómetro gracias a @CarrefourES pic.twitter.com/ilJBDEtMDQ— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 8, 2026
The last km (English commentary)
The Briton praised Van Aert for his role in leading him out, saying: “I really trusted Wout and followed his wheel all the way. It’s incredible that he can put you in such a perfect position in such a chaotic race.”
The 181.1km stage from Cortegana began with an early breakaway group of five riders separating from the peloton after 14km, stretching a lead out to two minutes 45 seconds.
Over the course of the afternoon, the peloton ate away at that gap, led primarily by Visma’s Steven Kruijswijk.
Out of the hills and into temperatures rising to 37 degrees Celsius, the gap continued to close until the breakaway was caught with 23km remaining.
In the final 10km, a second trailing group met with the peloton, which was tightly bunched until the final kilometre, with Van Aert leading Brennan to the front with the finish line in sight.
The best efforts of runner-up Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Vito Braet (Lotto Intermarche) in third came too late, as Brennan launched comfortably off van Aert’s wheel for the victory. Van Aert finished sixth and remains the points leader, ahead of Brennan.
Spain’s Enric Mas kept a two minutes, six seconds lead in the general classification, as he seeks his first Vuelta triumph, ahead of Austrian Felix Gall and Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic, who trails by 2:10.
Jack Haig is the best-placed Australian, in 26th, just over an hour behind Mas.
Stage 17 on Wednesday is a flat 185km route from Dos Hermanas to Seville before a 32.5-km time trial that could be key for Roglic ahead of Sunday’s finish.
