Updated September 13, 2026 12:52PM

Tobias Halland Johannessen scooped his first win in three years with a brilliant performance on the final stage of the Vuelta a España Sunday, being part of a group which went formed the final time up the Alhambra climb and then playing things perfectly in the finale.

He followed a move by Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with just over 1km to go, with Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) also present. Johannessen led into the final two corners and launched his move from the front, with Romele going all out to try to get past but coming up short.

Debruyne was third with Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) fourth ahead of Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious).

Halland Johannessen was second to Mikel Landa on Saturday’s final mountain stage and while the concluding stage to Granada was very different in profile, he was able to cope well with the short, steep Alahambra climb which was scaled four times.

Retiring rider Bilbao got clear the last time up but was caught and passed by the top by Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos), with the key move forming after that.

GC times were neutralized from 9.8km to go, with Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and the other general classification riders easing back before that and leaving a reduced number of riders fighting for the win.

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) hoped to triumph, just as he had done on the Montmartre circuit at the 2025 Tour de France, but the longer climb undid him and he finished a long way back.

Johannessen was the one who got everything right.

“I really didn’t expect it today,” he said. “We really wanted to make the last day of [Magnus] Cort’s career really special and try for him. But in the last lap I heard that I was in the front group. I tried to not pull in case Cort came back, but in the end I saw that we had the gap.

“In the end I was so focused on trying to get that win because I have been knocking on that door for a long time. It is well over three years since the last time.

“It feels really special to do it today. I don’t know what to say, I am so happy.”

Mas seals first Grand Tour win of career

Johannessen scooped his first grand tour stage; it was also a first for Mas, who landed the first grand tour GC win of his career.

He was in phenomenal form, giving Tadej Pogačar a scare on stage 6 when he caught and passed him on the final climb. He was runner-up to Pogačar in the sprint, moving to second overall, and then took over the race leader’s red jersey when the world champ crashed out on stage 8.

It was his best form in a long, long time and he led all the way from there until Sunday’s stage 21. He ended up 2:15 ahead of multiple Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and 2:44 in front of Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM).

Fourth went to Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) with the Coloradan Sepp Kuss (Visma-Leasa a Bike) jumping to fifth on Saturday for a fine result.

An easy day before a hectic finale

Stage 21 of the Vuelta was a race of two halves. It was festive early on, like most final days of grand tours, with the virtual winner Mas, green jersey Wout van Aert, mountains jersey Santiago Buitrago and best young rider Oscar Onley all getting a chance to celebrate with their teammates.

The pace was sedate for much of it, with Mas’ Movistar squad eventually hitting the front to inject a little more pace but not putting anyone under pressure. The race was all together crossing the finish line for the first time, 41.8km from the finish, and remained that way up the steep climb past the Alhambra.

One lap later Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ) lit the touch paper there when he surged with 28km to go.

He was joined by other eager riders, namely Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), Milan Vader (Pinarello Q36.5), Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana).

The first part of the peloton rejoined them with 18.7km to go, the penultimate time up the climb. Retiring rider Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) was keeping his powder dry but went all in on the slopes one lap later, getting a gap with 9km to go and putting Van Aert out the back.

He did what he could to chase a dream farewell result but the gap wasn’t big enough at the summit, with former world under 23 champion Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos) darting past just before the top. Several others bridged on the descent, including Bilbao, Tronchon, Halland Johannessen, Romele, Debruyne, five-time stage winner Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana).

Laurence launched another move with 2.5km to go and carried Debruyne, Halland Johannessen and Romele clear. Caught by Nys and Widar with just over 1km to go, Debruyne made his move then and was joined by Johannessen and Romele.

Johannessen was well in control from that point on, leading into the final corners and accelerating from the front to deny a disappointed Romele.

As for Mas, he coasted home, soaking up the Spanish fans’ applause and fully soaking up his breakthrough Grand Tour moment.