On a punishing mountain day in the Sierra Nevada, Spanish cycling delivered a memorable double. Mikel Landa claimed a hard-fought victory on stage 20 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana, while Enric Mas all but locked up the overall title.
The stage, run from La Calahorra to the Collado del Alguacil over roughly 187 km, was billed as the queen stage and the final major test before Sunday’s largely ceremonial finale in Granada.
Landa made his decisive move in the closing kilometres. After bridging into a strong chase group and later the break, the Basque climber attacked with about 7 km remaining on the steep final ascent, distancing companions including Tobias Halland Johannessen and Ramses Debruyne to finish alone. It was Landa’s second career stage win at the Vuelta and his first in more than a decade (his previous success came in Andorra in 2015). At 36, the veteran produced a timely revival on one of the race’s hardest days, delighting Spanish fans with a classic display of “Landismo.”
Behind him, the general classification battle stayed largely controlled. Enric Mas (Movistar) marked his rivals without drama and finished safely in the main group of favourites. The Mallorcan now holds a comfortable buffer at more than two minutes over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) close behind in third.
With only a short, mostly flat stage left into Granada, Mas is the virtual winner of the 81st Vuelta.
Mas has led the race for much of the second half after Tadej Pogacar’s early exit, defending the red jersey with consistent climbing performances.
𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐎 𝐄𝐒𝐓Á 𝐌Á𝐒 𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐎 𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐍𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐀
🚵♂️ Mikel Landa corona el Collado del Alguacil y se convierte en el 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐚 reina de #LaVuelta
📺Vente a la @La1_tve a ver 𝑬𝑳 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑬 de La #VueltaRTVE12s… pic.twitter.com/aVlYOc6tle
— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) September 12, 2026