Mikel Landa wins Vuelta queen stage as Enric Mas defends lead in Spain

Landa ends five-year wait on Collado del Alguacil

Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) won the 20th stage of the Vuelta a Espana atop the Collado del Alguacil, claiming his first victory in five years (1,862 days). The 36-year-old Basque rider attacked from the breakaway 7 kilometres from the summit, dropping his final companions Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech). The stage featured over 4,800 metres of vertical elevation gain on the road from La Calahorra. The final ascent of Collado del Alguacil, used for the first time in a professional race, spanned 8.3 kilometres with an average gradient of 9.8% and ramps reaching 22%. Johannessen finished second on the stage, while Debruyne took third.

I am extremely happy, I waited for this for so long and finally I am reconnecting with victory. I am very emotional, this was a very difficult season for me, a difficult Vuelta too, today was my last chance.

Overcoming injury before Basque transfer

The stage victory concludes a difficult year for Landa, who will transfer to Euskaltel-Euskadi next season. In April 2026, an official race vehicle struck Landa during the Tour of the Basque Country, leaving him with a fractured pelvis and ruling him out of both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. Landa had previously finished fourth overall at the Tour de France in 2017 and 2020, and his previous Vuelta stage victory occurred 11 years earlier. The breakaway group built a lead of more than eight minutes over the main favourites before reaching the base of the final climb.

Mas controls general classification rivals

In the fight for the red jersey, 31-year-old Enric Mas (Movistar Team) protected his overall lead to move within one stage of his first Grand Tour title. Mas has held the race lead since stage 8, when Tadej Pogacar withdrew following a crash. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) attempted several long-range accelerations to reach the podium, but Mas contained the moves throughout the afternoon. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), starting the day 1:37 behind Mas, dropped off the pace on the final ascent. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) attacked near the summit, crossing the line ahead of Mas and taking 55 seconds back on Roglic.

This is the first time in my life that I feel this. Today, I was counting the kilometres.

Final standings before Granada procession

Mas enters the final stage in Granada with an overall time of 70:56:58, holding an advantage of 2:15 over Roglic and 2:44 over Gall. Gall's podium spot follows his second-place finish at the Giro d'Italia in May. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) moved from 11th to 5th in the general classification after placing 8th on the stage from the breakaway. His teammate Wout van Aert secured the points classification green jersey, while Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos) leads the young rider classification in 6th place overall. Jakob Omrzel placed 7th overall, followed by Clement Berthet in 8th, with Cristian Rodriguez and Harold Tejada rounding out the top 10 for XDS Astana.