Enric Mas (Movistar) won the Vuelta a España 2026, a race in which Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) was the mountain champion and Harold Tejada (Astana) finished in tenth place.
The final stage took place over 112 kilometers in Granada and was won by Tobias Johannessen in the sprint.
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Santiago Buitrago, mountain champion; Harold Tejada, in the top 10, in the Vuelta a España
The organization of the race neutralized the general classification times 9.8 km from the end of the stage, after the last passage through the finish line, in its last stage this Sunday.
The Vuelta “has decided to neutralize the times for the individual general classification of stage 21 at the last passage through the finish line 9.8 km from the arrival,” the organization reported.
“There were no time bonuses at the finish line. Points for the points classification will be awarded at the finish line,” the statement added.
The decision was made by the organization with the UCI Commissaires’ College, after some cyclists expressed their concerns about the danger of the stage route, especially the final circuit, which includes five passes through the finish line and climbs to the Alhambra.
Buitrago found it difficult
The Colombian Buitrago fought a tough battle with the Belgian Wout van Aert, who put him on the ropes in the penultimate stage.
“It was an exhausting day. From the start of the stage, I had no idea how the race was going; everything was chaos,” Buitrago said once he crossed the finish line after the stage between La Calahorra and Collado del Alguacil, 186 kilometers long.
Buitrago realized what was happening and joined the second group of the breakaway, but Van Aert, in the lead group, kept gaining important points.
“Today I reached the finish line completely exhausted. Jakob Omrzel was also there, who had stayed with Onley, and they forced me to stop,” explained the Bogotá cyclist.
Mas, the best
The Spaniard Enric Mas, at 31 years old, achieves his first overall classification in a ‘Grand Tour’. He took the red leader’s jersey on the eighth day, when the wearer and big favorite, Tadej Pogačar, crashed and chose to withdraw.
Mas had achieved two podiums in the history of the race. He was second in 2018, held that same position in 2021 and 2022, and finished third in 2024.
The Spanish rider has been the center of criticism in past years, as fans demanded he win an important race, something that happened in 2026.
Tejada delivered
Harold Tejada’s goals before the Vuelta were to finish in the top 10 overall and win a stage.
The Huila rider achieved the first, but the second goal remained uncertain, as his health played a bad trick on him.
Tejada experienced terrible days after a flu that left him without strength to fight a breakaway and partial victory.
Not much was expected from the Colombians, but the performances of Buitrago and Tejada, plus the showing of Juan Felipe Rodríguez in his first ‘Grand Tour’, is a satisfactory result.
Rodríguez was not only Richard Carapaz’s golden domestique, who finished fourth, but his effort was enough to finish 16th overall, days after being promoted from the development team to the WorldTour team at EF Education-EasyPost.
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