Vuelta a España 2026: Mikel Landa wins the queen stage to Collado del Alguacil as Enric Mas seals overall victory

Debruyne launches the move, Landa solos to a first win in five years

The queen stage lived up to its billing: 186.9 kilometres from La Calahorra to the Collado del Alguacil, with the Alto de El Purche and the Puerto de El Duque both crossed before the brutal final ascent. Wout van Aert took the day's intermediate sprint at Güéjar Sierra to tighten his grip on the green jersey, and it was on the climb of El Duque that the stage's decisive move finally formed: Ramses Debruyne attacked almost as soon as the day's break came together, and only Tobias Halland Johannessen and Mikel Landa could go with him.

The trio stayed clear all the way to the base of the Collado del Alguacil, a beyond-category monster of 8.4 kilometres averaging 9.8% with ramps beyond 17%. Landa, who had not won a race since 2021, launched his attack with roughly five kilometres to go and nobody could follow: the Basque climber crossed the line alone in 4 hours 58 minutes and 1 second, 47 seconds clear of Johannessen, with Debruyne completing the podium at 1:27.

Mas concedes ground to Gall as Kuss storms into the top five

Behind the day's escapees, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe drove the pace in the group of favourites in one last attempt to put Enric Mas in difficulty before Sunday's finale. It never quite worked: the race leader crossed the line at 6:54, conceding a little time to Felix Gall — the strongest climber of the GC contenders on the day — but losing nothing extra to Primož Roglič, who could find no separation from Gall either. The net effect was that Mas's advantage over Roglič actually grew, from 1:37 to 2:15, while Gall closed to within 2:44 of red.

Further back, the day belonged to Sepp Kuss. The American rode himself from just outside the top ten into fifth place overall, at 8:45, jumping Oscar Onley and five other rivals in one stroke. With only Sunday's hilly finale in Granada left and Mas's buffer far beyond anything a single stage could realistically overturn, Spanish outlets were already hailing him as the Vuelta's virtual winner — what would be his first Grand Tour title.

The stage 20 result

1. Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), in 4:58:01; 2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), at 47 seconds; 3. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin–Premier Tech), at 1 minute 27 seconds; 4. Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious), at 3 minutes; 5. Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), at 4 minutes 12 seconds; 6. Jan Hirt, at 4 minutes 18 seconds; 7. Jørgen Nordhagen, at 4 minutes 35 seconds; 8. Sepp Kuss, same time; 9. Walter Calzoni, at 4 minutes 48 seconds; 10. Lorenzo Fortunato, at 4 minutes 53 seconds.

The general classification after twenty stages

Enric Mas leads Primož Roglič by 2:15 heading into the final stage, with Felix Gall third at 2:44. Richard Carapaz is fourth at 6:54, ahead of Sepp Kuss in a new fifth place at 8:45. Oscar Onley dropped to sixth at 9:28, followed by Jakob Omržel (+10:38), Clément Berthet (+11:41), Cristián Rodríguez (+11:59) and Harold Tejada, who rounds out the top ten at 14:40.

The other classifications are all but decided. Santiago Buitrago's points from today's early climbs put the mountains classification beyond Wout van Aert's reach, sealing the polka-dot jersey with one stage to go. Van Aert, in turn, struck again at the intermediate sprint in Güéjar Sierra to put his own points classification even further out of reach for the sprinters still in the race. In the young rider competition, Oscar Onley's slip to sixth overall did not cost him the white jersey — he still leads Jakob Omržel by 1:10 heading into Granada.

Looking ahead: no ceremonial parade, but five trips up the Alhambra

Sunday 13 September closes this Vuelta with something other than the sprint procession the Tour de France favours: a 99.4-kilometre circuit race through Granada, tackling the climb past the Alhambra five times. It's tough enough to shuffle a few places at the tail of the top ten, but with Mas's buffer over Roglič standing at 2:15, barring disaster the red jersey is a formality. Check the profile on our stage 21 page.

Want to relive the rest of this Vuelta? Read our stage 19 report from Peñas Blancas — Dunbar's late catch of Buitrago —, our preview of this queen stage written before the mountains had their say, or the complete guide to the 2026 Vuelta a España.