Vuelta a España 2026: Enric Mas attacks to stage 9 victory on the Alto de Aitana, stretches GC lead to 1:18
On his first day in red, Enric Mas did more than just defend it: he attacked twice on the Alto de Aitana, dropped Primož Roglič and outsprinted Oscar Onley — his first Grand Tour stage win in four years. Roglič finished third. With bonus seconds added, the Vuelta heads into the rest day with Mas 1:18 clear of Roglič and 1:39 clear of Felix Gall, while Santiago Buitrago, out of the early breakaway, takes over the mountains jersey. The full story of stage 9, plus a look ahead to the rest day and week 2.
A 24-man breakaway, and an attack on his birthday
A 24-rider breakaway was given plenty of rope early in the stage, with Pavel Sivakov and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) among those up front. On his 23rd birthday, Alessandro Romele attacked and joined Sivakov and Spanish champion Marcel Camprubí in a small lead group that still held a six-minute advantage heading into the final climb.
Behind them, Felix Gall's team Decathlon CMA CGM did the heavy lifting: domestiques Jordan Labrosse and Sander De Pestel, and later Gregor Mühlberger, steadily reeled in the leaders' six-minute gap before the final climb to the Alto de Aitana began.
Gall attacks, Mas answers — then accelerates twice himself
On the Alto de Aitana itself, Felix Gall tried repeatedly with attacks, but Enric Mas answered every one. With around three kilometres to go, it was the red jersey holder himself who accelerated: Oscar Onley went straight with him, while Primož Roglič only bridged across a few seconds later. Inside the final two kilometres, Mas kicked again, and this time only Onley could follow — Roglič was dropped.
In the final metres, Mas outsprinted Onley between the radar domes of the Aitana — his first Grand Tour stage win since 2022, and a statement on his first day as leader: he didn't defend the red jersey, he attacked with it.
The stage 9 result
Behind the top three, Felix Gall (+18"), Cristian Rodríguez and Mattias Skjelmose (both +20") and Jarno Widar (+25") fought over the scraps. Harold Tejada followed at 33 seconds, Richard Carapaz at 54 seconds, while Santiago Buitrago — who had spent most of the day in the early breakaway — rounded out the top ten at 1 minute 41 seconds.
The general classification into the rest day
With the ten bonus seconds for his stage win added on, Mas grows his lead considerably: he takes the rest day 1:18 clear of Roglič and 1:39 clear of Gall. Oscar Onley is fourth at 2:20, ahead of Richard Carapaz (+3:26), Mattias Skjelmose (+3:55), Sepp Kuss (+4:09), Harold Tejada (+4:39), Gregor Mühlberger (+7:33) and Jakob Omržel (+8:05). Wout van Aert remains well clear in the points classification (143 points, a 67-point lead over second-placed Alessandro Romele), while Santiago Buitrago takes over the mountains jersey from Andreas Leknessund thanks to points on the El Miserat, the Puerto de Tollos and the Puerto de Tudons — with Mas himself his closest challenger, just 5 points behind. Onley remains the young rider classification leader.
Looking ahead: the rest day, and more Vuelta reading
Monday 31 August gives the peloton a day off, before the Vuelta continues on Tuesday with stage 10 through Castilla-La Mancha. Read our week 2 preview for everything you need to know about stages 10 through 15, including the one-two punch of the Alto de Velefique and Calar Alto.
Want to catch up on the rest of this Vuelta? Read our stage 5-8 recap, the stage 4 report from Andorra or the complete guide to the 2026 Vuelta a España. Test your knowledge with our week 1 quiz, or build your own tier list of the contenders.
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