Vuelta a España: Matthew Brennan nets hat-trick with victory on stage 11 using lead-out by Wout van Aert

Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) made it a hat-trick of stage wins from his debut Grand Tour, winning stage 11 of the Vuelta a España after a lead-out from teammate Wout van Aert.

The 21-year-old has been the dominant sprinter at this Vuelta and once again underlined his status as the fastest finisher in the race, winning clearly ahead of Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

After the question marks over the team’s tactics the previous day, when Van Aert was the chosen man but came up short, Visma-Lease a Bike flipped the tactics back again, with Van Aert playing a leading role not only in leading out the sprint but also putting out fires on the day’s sole climb, the Alto de Aledo.

It was a relatively gentle category 3 ascent, topping out 30km from the line, but it was a hectic phase of the race as Pinarello-Q36.5 piled on the pressure and riders looked to attack both on the climb and down the other side. Van Aert was particularly active in jumping to cover a number of attacks to ensure they went nowhere and the race would culminate in a bunch sprint.

When it did, he was to the fore again, as Visma lost position in the finale but reappeared at the front just when it mattered most, heading into a big U-turn bend inside 500 metres to go. Van Aert actually overcooked the bend, and Brennan had to ease off to allow his teammate back to the front, and from there the perfect leadout was supplied.

Brennan hit out with just under 200 metres to go and once again there was no answer from his rivals, with stage 8 winner Coquard finishing runner-up in the slipstream. Van Aert’s lead-out was so strong, and the bunch so thrown out of rhythm by the near 180-degree bend, that Van Aert himself placed fifth on the day.

"We took the initiative today again, and the boys pulled as hard as they could. Even after a tough day in the legs yesterday, we still went full gas. Coming into the final, we really held our own place and knew that we were all strong enough to get to where we want to be. The boys did a fantastic job within that last 10km to really keep us in the right place, in the right position, out of trouble. And we crossed the line first, so we're super happy.

"I'm with a team full of massive champions. You've got guys who have been on podiums in Grand Tours and won them as well, and you've also got guys who have won big classics in some huge races. The fact that they go for me each time is an amazing opportunity, and I'm really thankful that they go full gas for me."

Race leader Enric Mas (Movistar) finished safely in the peloton to retain the overall lead on a day that saw no change to the top of the general classification, despite some brief crosswind and echelon action early in the day.

Early echelons and an attacking climb

The day began with the news of the exit of a big name, and a potential winner of today’s stage, in Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who hinted as much the previous evening and took the decision not to take to the start of stage 11.

The day’s early breakaway was made up of four riders who went up the road with a minimum of fuss: Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep), Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Alessandro Covi (Jayco-AlUla), and Sinhué Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH).

It was a relatively unthreatening breakaway but they were kept on a very short leash by Visma-Lease a Bike, with some help from Cofidis, who combined to peg the gap at just 90 seconds.

The race suddenly lit up just inside 100km to go, when the wind was blowing from the side and just strong enough for a few teams to try and split the bunch into echelons. Tudor Pro Cycling, Bahrain Victorious, and XDS-Astana were particularly active in a move that ended up splitting a group of 30 riders off the back, including the sprinter Hugo Hofstetter (NSN) and the young talent Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché).

Things came back together after around 10km, but that flurry of action spelled the end of the day’s breakaway. In its place sprang up a new one, with Hayter getting himself back out front, this time with just one rider for company: Larry Warbasse (Tudor).

The pair of them worked well together but only ever had a modest advantage. Hayter led through the intermediate sprint with 42km to go, where Van Aert sprang from the bunch to add 15 points to his green jersey collection.

It was soon time for the Alto de Aledo, a 10km climb on gentle roads, which were still seen as a launchpad by Pinarello-Q36.5, who set a strong pace that distanced several riders, before Eddie Dunbar accelerated 2km from the top. The Irishman opened a gap and Van Aert jumped out of the Visma line to mark it out, with the pair of them riding away for a short time, until other teams panicked and launched riders of their own.

That led to a stretched-out and slightly reduced bunch by the summit with 30km to go, where Van Aert himself accelerated to get to the summit first and collect some mountains classification points in the process.

The attacking continued on the gentle descent, with Van Aert jumping on several moves during a very open phase of the race. With 26km to go, Visma got a handle on things as a full team and set about controlling the peloton en masse.

From there, we had a more traditional sprint run-in, with GC teams active in keeping their riders safe in the final 10km before the sprinters’ teams fought for position as they entered the centre of Lorca in the final 5km.

Uno-X took control with four riders on the front and it looked like Visma had faded, only for Christophe Laporte to bring them surging back just in time for Van Aert, with Brennan in tow, to hit the front for that crucial U-turn bend. He may have shot wide, but the Belgian recovered to roll out the red carpet and deliver Brennan to a remarkable third stage win in his first Grand Tour.

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