Enric Mas virtually secured the Vuelta, Mikel Landa won the queen stage 20
Enric Mas took a crucial step toward overall victory at the 2026 Vuelta a España. In the queen stage 20, raced on September 12 from La Calahorra to Collado del Alguacil, the Movistar Team leader responded to Primož Roglič's attacks and further increased his advantage over his main rival in the finale. At the same time, Mikel Landa delivered Spain's second major celebration of the day by winning on the exceptionally demanding final climb in the province of Granada. According to the results published by the race organizers and Spanish sports media, Mas enters the final stage with a lead of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over Roglič and 2 minutes and 44 seconds over Felix Gall. Unless extraordinary circumstances occur during the final 112 kilometers to the finish in Granada, the 31-year-old Spaniard should win the first Grand Tour race of his career.
The double success of the home riders came on a day that had been marked as the final major test for the general classification favorites ever since the route was announced. The official Vuelta website states that stage 20 was 186.8 kilometers long, finishing at Collado del Alguacil, an HC-category climb that served as a stage finish in professional cycling for the first time. The organizers described the final climb as 8.3 kilometers long with an average gradient of 9.8 percent, following earlier climbs of Blancares, two ascents of El Purche and Puerto de El Duque. Such a sequence of climbs left very little room to hide weaknesses, but Mas once again showed that during this year's Vuelta he can respond to the most important changes of pace. Roglič tried to open up the final battle for the red jersey, but instead of overturning the situation he ended up with an even larger deficit.
Mas responded to Roglič's attacks and increased his lead
Primož Roglič entered stage 20 with a clear imperative to attack. After 19 stages he trailed Mas by 1:37, and a stage with almost five thousand meters of climbing offered him the last realistic opportunity to change the balance of power before the flatter final day. Cadena SER reported that the Slovenian tried to distance himself from the leader, but Mas stayed close to him almost the entire time and did not allow any serious escape. When the race approached the finale, the Spaniard did not merely defend his lead but also found the strength for an acceleration of his own. In the end, the gap between the two main contenders for overall victory grew by another 38 seconds compared with the situation before the stage.
Mas therefore emerged from the toughest stage of the final week in an even more favorable position. According to the standings after stage 20, Roglič remains second at 2:15, while Gall is third at 2:44. The Austrian from Decathlon CMA CGM finished very strongly and moved to within just 29 seconds of Roglič in the battle for second place, so the final day could have more significance for the positions behind the leader than for the red jersey itself. Richard Carapaz remained fourth, while Sepp Kuss made a major leap in stage 20 and climbed to fifth place overall. For Mas, the most important fact is that after three weeks of racing he enters the final day with the biggest advantage he has held over Roglič during the decisive part of the race.
Landa attacked at the right moment and celebrated alone
While a tactical battle for the overall classification unfolded behind him, Mikel Landa was building one of the most striking victories of his season. The Soudal Quick-Step rider joined the attackers in the final part of the stage, and on the final climb he managed to break the resistance of Tobias Halland Johannessen. AS states that Landa made the decisive move precisely on Collado del Alguacil, where he left the Norwegian behind and headed alone toward the finish. The Spaniard completed the stage in 4 hours, 58 minutes and 1 second, 47 seconds ahead of Johannessen and 1:27 ahead of third-placed Ramses Debruyne. Pau Miquel finished fourth, three minutes behind, while Urko Berrade was fifth.
The victory had particular emotional significance for Landa. Cadena SER states that it was his first Vuelta stage triumph since 2015, when he won in Andorra, and that during this year's race he had suffered from pain in the pelvic area. After the finish he spoke about difficult months and the support he had received even on days when the results were not good. His triumph on Collado del Alguacil was therefore not merely a victory from a breakaway or a tactical success, but also the return of a rider who throughout his career has built a reputation as one of the most aggressive climbing specialists of his generation. By winning the queen stage, he also earned one of the most valuable places in the sporting summary of the entire 2026 Vuelta.
Collado del Alguacil lived up to its status as the final test
Even before the start of the Vuelta, the organizers had identified the final climb as one of the key points of the entire race. Collado del Alguacil is located in the municipality of Güéjar Sierra in the province of Granada, and official data list 8.3 kilometers of climbing at an average gradient of 9.8 percent. Before it, the riders had to overcome Puerto de Los Blancares, El Purche twice and Puerto de El Duque, which meant the stage was designed as a long and progressively more difficult test of endurance. The final kilometers particularly favored riders capable of maintaining a high pace on steep gradients after several hours of hard mountain racing. Against that background, it was no surprise that both the stage victory and the battle for the overall classification were decided only deep in the finale.
The route of stage 20 was not completely identical to the original plan. Vuelta organizers announced on August 7 that Alto de Hazallanas had to be removed from the route because of landslides caused by severe weather in February. Puerto de El Duque was introduced as a replacement, with the explanation that the alternative route maintained a very similar level of difficulty and almost the same overall stage length. That change did not diminish the sporting significance of the day: the double ascent of El Purche, El Duque and then Collado del Alguacil created a final mountain block in which riders could not count on recovery between the key efforts. The outcome confirmed the organizers' assessment that this stage would provide the final major separation among the general classification contenders.
The road to the red jersey was also marked by Pogačar's withdrawal
Mas's position ahead of the final day is the result of three weeks in which the balance of power changed several times. At the start of the race, one of the biggest favorites was Tadej Pogačar, but the Slovenian withdrew after a crash in stage eight. Mas then took the lead and soon consolidated it with victory on Alto de Aitana in stage nine. The official Vuelta pointed out at the time that this was the first time a Spaniard had won a stage while wearing the red jersey since Alberto Contador in 2014. From that moment, Mas was no longer merely a rider benefiting from circumstances, but a leader who repeatedly had to defend his advantage himself against Roglič, Gall and the other contenders.
A particular challenge was stage 18, the individual time trial in Jerez de la Frontera, a discipline in which Roglič traditionally has an advantage. After the time trial, Mas admitted that he had expected to lose time and said that a 1:37 advantage was still too small to relax because two very important days were still to come. That is precisely why the performance on Collado del Alguacil is so important to the final picture of the race. Instead of having his advantage further reduced after the time trial, Mas increased it in the final major mountain stage. That put him into the final day in a position where he no longer needs to attack, but above all to finish the race safely.
First major victory after four previous Vuelta podium finishes
If Mas confirms overall victory in Granada, it will be the culmination of a long series of attempts at the Vuelta. The Spanish rider has already stood on the final podium of this race four times: he was second in 2018, 2021 and 2022, and third in 2024. Despite that exceptional consistency, before this season he had never won the overall classification of any Grand Tour race. For that reason, victory in 2026 would carry additional weight both in his personal career and in the recent history of Spanish road cycling.
The last Spanish winner of the Vuelta was Alberto Contador in 2014, something Mas himself mentioned after the time trial in Jerez. In an interview published on the race's official website, he recalled that as a very young rider he had looked up to Contador as a role model. Twelve years later, Mas has come within reach of ending the long period without a home winner of the overall classification. Such a result would also have symbolic value for Movistar, the Spanish team that had spent years searching for another victory in one of the three biggest stage races. Nevertheless, until he crosses the finish line in the final stage, the organizers and the team must account for crashes, mechanical problems and other unforeseen situations, which is why it is more precise to speak of a virtual rather than a formally confirmed victory.
Roglič left without the attack needed to turn the Vuelta around
Roglič arrived at this Vuelta as a four-time winner of the race and a rider whose experience in the final weeks of a Grand Tour is almost unmatched among active cyclists. His biggest opportunity to fight back came in the time trial, where he managed to reduce the gap, but ahead of stage 20 he still needed considerably more than controlled climbing. On the final climbs around Granada, he tried to pressure Mas into making a mistake, but he failed to create the separation he needed. According to Cadena SER's report, Mas responded to his changes of pace, and the final climb further demonstrated that Roglič did not have a large enough physical advantage to overturn the overall classification.
An even more uncomfortable consequence for the Slovenian is Gall's approach. The Austrian now trails second place by only 29 seconds, so Roglič cannot completely ignore the battle for the position behind Mas in the final stage either. A flat finale generally does not create large differences among the leaders in the general classification, but technical details, possible incidents or tactical team decisions can still affect the official result. That is why Mas's advantage of 2:15 is so significant: it is a time cushion that allows him to enter the final day much more calmly than he did before the queen stage.
Top 5 overall standings after stage 20
- 1. Enric Mas (Movistar Team)
- 2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:15
- 3. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +2:44
- 4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +6:54
- 5. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +8:45
Sepp Kuss was one of the day's biggest gainers outside the battle for the top three positions. According to the published classifications, the American moved from 11th to fifth place thanks to active riding in the mountain stage. Oscar Onley therefore dropped to sixth, while the gaps among the riders from fifth to tenth place increased further after almost five hours of very aggressive racing. That part of the standings shows how important stage 20 was even beyond the direct battle for the red jersey. For several teams, it was precisely the final mountain day that decided whether they would finish the Vuelta with a rider in the top ten.
The final stage runs through Granada, but caution remains essential
The Vuelta ends on September 13 with a 112-kilometer stage starting and finishing in Granada. The official itinerary classifies it as a flat stage, with the final section consisting of several laps of a city circuit and the finish on Paseo del Salón. The organizers expect a neutralized start at 16:20 local time and an arrival at around 19:00, depending on the peloton's average speed. Under normal circumstances, such a final day offers more room for sprinter teams and the celebration of the overall winner than for major attacks among the general classification contenders. Nevertheless, the official standings exist only after the stage has been completed, so Mas and Movistar must avoid unnecessary risks.
Some Spanish media also reported on September 12 that several teams had requested discussions about a possible neutralization of times on part of the final stage because of safety concerns on the city course. By the time those reports were published, the organizers had not presented a final change to the official classification arrangements, so that element cannot be treated as a confirmed decision. Regardless of that, the sporting mathematics remain clear: Mas has more than two minutes over Roglič and has already left behind the final climb on which the Slovenian could realistically have regained a large part of the deficit. That is why, after Collado del Alguacil, his lead is being described as a virtually secured Vuelta, with the necessary caveat that the race has not yet formally finished.
A day that united two Spanish stories
The queen stage thus offered two different but connected stories. Landa won on a day when few could count on an easy or accidental victory, and did so after a season and a Vuelta in which, according to his own words, he had to endure a physically very difficult period. At the same time, Mas achieved a different kind of success: he was not chasing a stage victory, but calmly controlled his biggest rival and then increased his overall advantage. One celebrated a return to the highest level at the finish on Collado del Alguacil, while the other all but locked up the biggest result of his career.
For Spanish cycling, the symbolism is further emphasized by the fact that a Mas victory would end a run without a home Vuelta winner dating back to 2014, while Landa returned to the list of stage winners after eleven years. But the broader sporting significance of stage 20 goes beyond the national context. The final mountain test confirmed that Mas was stable enough in the third week to withstand a combination of the time trial, long climbs and the tactical pressure of a multiple Vuelta winner. On Sunday, September 13, all that remains is for him to finish the job in Granada. If he does so without a major incident, Collado del Alguacil will be remembered as the place where the 2026 Vuelta was virtually decided.
Sources:
- La Vuelta – official profile, distance and categorization of stage 20 La Calahorra – Collado del Alguacil (link)
- La Vuelta – official announcement on the modification of the stage 20 route and the replacement of Alto de Hazallanas with the Puerto de El Duque climb (link)
- La Vuelta – official profile and itinerary of the final stage 21 Carrefour Granada – Granada (link)
- La Vuelta – Enric Mas's statement after stage 18 and the context ahead of the final mountain weekend (link)
- AS – stage 20 results and gaps in the overall classification after Collado del Alguacil (link)
- Cadena SER – report on the battle between Mas and Roglič and the overall classification situation after the queen stage (link)
- Cadena SER – report on Landa's victory, his physical problems and his reaction after the finish (link)