Vuelta a España stage 21 LIVE: Riders reach circuit in Granada on final day of the race

2026-09-13T17:22:33.738Z

The front group is large in size as they race towards the final lap. There are no attacks at the moment – they’re waiting presumably for the final ascent of the climb. Meanwhile the peloton is 1:18 behind, being led by Movistar.

2026-09-13T17:19:08.360Z

The break has been caught by the chase group, and attacks are coming thick and fast, but nobody is clear at the moment.

2026-09-13T17:08:31.897Z

A group of eight have gone clear – Brennan, Nys, Paret-Peintre, Laurance, Romele, Fisher-Black, Tronchon and Vader.

There’s a large group behind (featuring Van Aert, who didn’t quite make the split).

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Groupama’s Tronchon has caused a split over the top of the climb, taking a handful of riders with him, including Brennan, Paret-Peintre, Romele and Van Aert.

2026-09-13T17:02:29.375Z

The race is heating up now. Visma-Lease a Bike first took control at the front of the peloton, with Steven Kruijswijk, riding on the last day of his career. And now Groupama-FDJ take over as they take on the circuit’s climb for the second of four times.

At the back, one of the key sprinters is struggling – Jordi Meeus.

2026-09-13T16:40:11.034Z

This year’s Vuelta is set to come to a close, but there was news today of next year’s race. The Gran Partida is set to take place in Galicia, the first time it has been held on Spanish roads for a few years.

2026-09-13T16:30:08.468Z

There are still a lot of teams without a stage win at this Vuelta, will be desperate to do so today. Unusually, Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Premier Tech are both without one, contrary to how they usually perform, as are NSN, Jayco-AlUla, Astana, Picnic PosnNL, Lotto Intermarché and the wildcard teams Burgos BH and Equipo Kern Pharma. And although they have high placings on GC to celebrate, Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, Decathlon, EF Education-EasyPost and Netcompany are also lacking one.

2026-09-13T16:22:12.044Z

Above all, today is for Enric Mas. Up until he has had a career of near-misses and runner-up finishes, and spoke candidly yesterday about how hard he has had to work to deliver this victory. Chapeau.

2026-09-13T16:13:14.336Z

Of all the many storylines to follow during yesterday’s stage, perhaps the most heart-warming was Mikel Landa’s stage win. For all his talent and brilliant performances over the years, he hasn’t actually won that much at this high a level, and certainly not in recent years. It will surely go down as one of the best days of his career.

2026-09-13T16:04:17.596Z

Oscar Onley was one of the riders to lose a place on GC yesterday to Sepp Kuss, slipping to 6th place, but nevertheless completes what has been a successful Grand Tour thanks to victory in the young riders classification. He’s had to overcome some hardship to do so, too, having been ill earlier in the race; to pull off such a result in these circumstances is further proof of his great talent.

2026-09-13T15:54:28.964Z

2026-09-13T15:30:47.571Z

This year’s Vuelta podium, al of whom look happy with their finish.

For Mas and Roglič, it’s a respective five and six time they’ve finished on the podium here, but for Gall it’s a first. He had to dig deep yesterday to defend from an onslaught of attacks from the man directly beneath him on GC, Richard Carapaz.

2026-09-13T15:21:51.341Z

The festivities appear to be finished for now, and Movistar have moved to the front of the peloton to increase the pace a little. It’s still more of an amble than a race, but the battle for the stage win will initiate at some point.

2026-09-13T15:16:23.774Z

Here was the retiring riders receiving their guard of honour at the start of the stage, led by Steven Kruijswijk. This will be the last day of racing in the Dutchman’s long career, a memorable which saw him star in the mountains early on, nearly win the Giro d’Italia, podium at the Tour de France, and then win multiple Grand Tours as a rebranded domestique for Visma. He’ll be sorely missed.

2026-09-13T14:50:25.254Z

2026-09-13T14:39:24.878Z

While the opening of the stage will be more of a celebration than a race, there are endless stories to unpack from yesterday’s thriller. There might not have been any major changes in the GC, barring Sepp Kuss’ rise to fifth place, but the stage really did have everything.

2026-09-13T14:08:50.038Z