Onley Conquers Valle Del Sol As Enric Mas Shows Strong Form

Oscar Onley delivered the first major blow of the 2026 Vuelta a Burgos by winning the uphill finish at Valle del Sol. The British rider beat Giulio Ciccone in the final metres, took the leader's jersey from Matthew Brennan and confirmed himself as the man to beat in the general classification.

Five riders formed the early breakaway shortly after the start: Javier Ibáñez, Rodrigo Álvarez, Yago Aguirre, Diego Uriarte and Rayan Boulahoite. Their advantage reached two and a half minutes, while Álvarez collected mountain points and earned the climber's jersey after an aggressive day at the front.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe increased the pace on the final ascent and dropped Brennan with 2.7 kilometres remaining. Jay Vine tried to break the reduced favourites' group, and local rider Mario Aparicio attacked inside the final 500 metres, but the decisive contest eventually came down to Onley and Ciccone.

Onley proved fastest at the summit, while Enric Mas crossed the line in third place. The Spaniard's performance is an encouraging sign ahead of the Vuelta a España, although Burgos is far from decided: the race still contains further mountain terrain capable of changing the hierarchy established at Valle del Sol.