Matthew Brennan wins Vuelta a España stage 2 as Pogačar keeps lead

Young British rider Matthew Brennan secured his first Grand Tour stage victory on Sunday, August 23, 2026, winning the second and longest stage of the Vuelta a España with a powerful sprint finish in Manosque, France. The 21-year-old, riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, capitalized on a late attack from his teammate Wout van Aert to beat second-place Pau Miquel and third-place race leader Tadej Pogačar after a 214.3-kilometer hilly trek from Monaco.

Brennan completed the stage, which featured over 3,000 meters of climbing, in a time of 4 hours, 47 minutes, and 47 seconds. His victory was set up when van Aert launched an attack with approximately 2 kilometers remaining, forcing Pogačar to follow. The move was eventually caught by the peloton, but it disrupted the field and allowed Brennan to emerge from the bunch sprint to win by a clear margin. Pogačar, who started the day just 0.09 seconds ahead of Ethan Hayter after the opening time trial on Saturday, August 22, maintained his overall lead by finishing in the same time as the stage winner.

"I was always going to be in the background to sprint in case the guys out front sat up and that's exactly what happened," Brennan said at the...