An unexpected switch of roles by Visma-Lease a Bike at the Vuelta a España on stage 10 certainly kept their rivals guessing, but finally failed to pay off as Wout van Aert finished fourth after his teammates Matthew Brennan and Sepp Kuss kept the breakaways under control.
Brennan and Van Aert had pulled off a stunning two-part strategy on stage 2, with the Belgian attacking in the closing kilometres, drawing out the peloton and even keeping then-race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in check before the Briton then sprinted for the win.
After Van Aert and Christophe Laporte had then provided Brennan with a stunning leadout on stage 4, six days later on the category 3 climb of Puerto de Socovos, Brennan was a constant presence in the stream of attacks that materialised and helped to clamp them down.
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Finally, on the grinding uphill to Elche de la Sierra, Sepp Kuss jumped out of the pack on a couple of occasions, in an echo of the role he played in Van Aert's victory in Cordoba two years ago, burying himself on the front of the pack to ensure it stayed together in the closing kilometres.
This time, however, it was not to be as Van Aert claimed fourth in the sprint, strengthening his hold on the green jersey but not able to hit the jackpot.
Still, he told assembled media, in comments reported by Sporza later, the teamwork could not be faulted, and he was sure that his first stage win in the 2026 Vuelta and fourth of his career was just around the corner, too.
"Matthew is a great guy and we have helped each other many times already. The whole team threw themselves into it, and if we keep going like this, we will come out on top again, I am sure of that," Van Aert said.
"I was initially frustrated, but mostly disappointed. You want to finish it off, and in the sprint, I didn't have enough left in my legs.
"The last 30 kilometers were chaotic, and I really needed all my teammates to make it come down to a sprint. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. If we keep going like this, we will continue to be successful."
Van Aert said that he could have made some errors of positioning in the lengthy uphill battle in Elche de la Sierra, but he would first need to check the video to see what happened.
"In any case," he recognised, "when it came to the last key corner with 650 metres to go, I wasn't close enough to the front."
That meant he had to expend a lot of energy just to get back up to the front and that made his own options very limited. As he put it simply afterwards, "I'm pretty bummed about that".
Van Aert made a point of repeatedly thanking his teammates, particularly on a day that, as he said, the collaboration for a sprint had been very limited. Only Cofidis, pushing hard for another victory with Bryan Coquard, were willing to give a hand.
Asked by Eurosport if he felt guilty at having had Brennan work for him but failing to get the win afterwards, Van Aert answered frankly, "Of course, that’s what puts pressure on both of us. He feels same pressure when I'm doing a leadout for him.
"But we know how to handle this very well. There have been a lot of doubts and questions, from outside our team about this whole Vuelta. But we have the green jersey, we've won two stages. If we continue the spirit in the team where you give and you take, then there are no issues."
Wednesday's stage into Lorca will likely end in another bunch sprint battle, although given the terrain is much flatter throughout - 1,300 metres of vertical climbing compared to the nearly 3,000 tackled by the peloton on Tuesday - it remains to be seen what strategy Visma will take.
Either way, and whether the Dutch squad opt for Brennan's third stage of the 2026 race or Van Aert's first, both the Belgian and the Briton will be keen to be back in the thick of the action once again.
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