Two for two and five out of 15. For the second time in three years that the Vuelta a España has visited Córdoba, Wout van Aert has taken the victory. In addition, he and Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Matthew Brennan have now taken five of the race's 15 stages so far.
In 2024, Van Aert won a chaotic reduced bunch sprint after the race descended from the hilly sierras just north of the Andalusian city, whilst this time round his latest victory - and fifth of his career in the Vuelta - came thanks to his successful handling of a break of five. These included two fellow Belgians Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech), finally third and fourth in a drawn-out dash for the line in the city centre.
But no matter the circumstances, Van Aert showed once again he is up to the task, clinching his second transition stage in three days and once again, too, handling the searing heat that assailed the race, and this time caused the total stage distance to be reduced by 80 kilometres.
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This is definitely not the last stage that Van Aert wants to win in this year's Vuelta either. He revealed he'd come down specially to Granada with his team during an altitude camp at Sierra Nevada to check out the final stage, which has a similar profile to the last day's racing in the Tour de France over the Butte Montmartre, where he won in 2025.
"The climb is much harder than the Montmartre, but it's a similar kind of course," Van Aert told reporters. "So I think it should suit me."
As for Córdoba, following his second win in three years there, Van Aert joked, "I don't think I'll come back here anymore. I won't be able to maintain this statistic". However, he did say he might like to revisit the city as a tourist.
Van Aert already said he is a fan of racing in Spain and that the more open, aggressive style of racing suits him and such is his degree of integration in the Vuelta that he is now being asked if he speaks a little Spanish. (For the record, he doesn't, requesting that questions continue to be in English).
In any case, Van Aert certainly seemed perfectly at home on the brutally undulating, technical course, where he knew that his fast legs in a finale and more than proven ability to operate in a class of his own in Classics-style stages would be a lethal combination.
"The attacks started quite late, I wanted to keep it together for a sprint," Van Aert said afterwards. "We'd been controlling the race for quite a while, so my idea was to surprise the peloton and get in a break, something they might not expect me to do, and I smelled the right moment to go for it."
Having ensured he was in the front group and with Brennan behind discouraging further moves, the tide was flowing more and more in Van Aert's favour. But he still had to finish it off.
"The sprint was not easy, there were quite a few attacks to mark and Thibau [Nys] went from far out as well," Van Aert commented.
"Getting into the break was more tactical and I had to race aggressively. Once I sensed the moment, I pushed on for a few kilometres to ensure the group formed. Matthew being there, meant it wasn't a risk and it's how I like to race."
The fast-looming Road World Championships are on everybody's minds, and with the Belgian National selection due to be published on Monday, even more so. Whilst it's a given that Van Aert will be there for Belgium, for now his focus on the Vuelta is both boosting his confidence for Canada and giving his trade team much to celebrate in the final Grand Tour of 2026.
"It is amazing. On most days where we thought we could win, we won. We should be proud of the way we controlled it all today."
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