Brennan completes Visma's plan in Manosque

Matthew Brennan won stage 2 of the 2026 Vuelta a España with a powerful acceleration on the uphill finish in Manosque. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider beat Pau Miquel, while Tadej Pogačar finished third and retained the red leader's jersey after the 214.3-kilometre stage from Monaco.

Ethan Hayter, second in the opening time trial by nine hundredths of a second, joined the breakaway and collected six bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in Gréoux-les-Bains. He briefly became the virtual race leader, but the effort took its toll and the peloton brought him back before the finish.

Visma-Lease a Bike shaped the finale with a late attack from Wout van Aert. Pogačar closed the move, while Christophe Laporte kept Brennan near the front for the regrouping. Brennan then launched the decisive sprint to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory. Sergio Chumil abandoned after a heavy crash, and the race now heads to the 174-kilometre medium-mountain stage from Gruissan to Font-Romeu.