Brennan doubles up in Roquetes as Pogačar stays in red

Matthew Brennan claimed his second victory of the 2026 Vuelta a España by winning stage 5 after 173.3 kilometres from Falset to Roquetes. Wout van Aert led Visma-Lease a Bike into the finale, Christophe Laporte delivered the lead-out and Brennan clearly beat Jordi Meeus and Vincenzo Albanese.

A five-rider breakaway was caught early after Lidl-Trek used the wind to split the peloton. The main contenders returned to the same group, while Ethan Hayter attacked to collect the intermediate sprint points. The Alto de Paüls later dropped Mads Pedersen, Kaden Groves and Magnus Cort, leaving a reduced field to contest the finish.

Pogačar finished safely and retains the red jersey, 3:21 ahead of Primož Roglič and 3:32 ahead of Enric Mas. Cian Uijtdebroeks did not start because of the injuries sustained in his opening time-trial crash. Belgian reports have indicated a possible ankle fracture, although Movistar has not confirmed that diagnosis.