Britain’s Matthew Brennan completed a hat-trick of victories after he claimed a sprint finish on stage 11 of La Vuelta in Lorca.
The largely flat 151.3km run from Cartagena had always looked set for the sprinters, with Brennan – on his debut Grand Tour – delivering a third stage win for UCI Team Visma-Lease a Bike with a late attack for the line ahead of Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Jodri Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
After a four-man breakaway, which included Britain’s Ethan Hayter, was eventually pulled back in, Belgian Wout Van Aert took on the challenge heading into the final kilometres, before team-mate Brennan made his signature finishing dash.
In the general classification standings, Movistar’s Enric Mas finished in the peloton to retain his red jersey with an overall lead of one minute and 18 seconds from Primoz Roglic.
Lidl-Trek had earlier confirmed sprinter Mads Pedersen’s withdrawal from the race ahead of stage 11 because of illness.
Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello – Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), who crossed the line in 97th on Wednesday, is 46th overall in the general classification and 31st in the points standings, while Darren Rafferty (EF Education – EasyPost) is 114th in the GC.