Vuelta a España: Matthew Brennan makes it four with another scorching sprint to win stage 16

Matthew Brennan used a picture-perfect lead-out by Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout van Aert to win stage 16 of the Vuelta a España, the British rider adding a fourth individual stage win at this Grand Tour.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) went second and Vito Braet (Lotto-Intermarche) took third in the bunch sprint on the Atlantic coast in La Rabida.

Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) grabbed fourth ahead of Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), the latter having worked back into the front of the peloton after being caught behind a split with 20km to go.

Visma worked at the front most of the day and tracked down a five-rider breakaway with 25km to go. Once on the long, wide road to the finish and cruising through a final left-hand bend with 600 metres to go, Van Aert wound up and sprang to the front to lead out Brennan to the line with open space for the win.

“It’s unbelievable, four victories here. The plan was for one, and as a team, we’re now on six, I think, I’ve lost count,” Brennan said after the finish.

“We’ve won so many stages that we’ve gone for. We’ve really committed to the plan that we have. You’ve seen the boys all day today. If you’ve been watching at home, they just been pushing so much wind, and to finish off like that, with Wout bringing me across the line, basically in a perfect place in such a chaotic final, it was perfect.

“I really trusted Wout and followed his wheel all the way, and yeah, it’s incredible that he can bring you in [position] in such a chaotic race.”

Enric Mas was ushered to the finish by his Movistar teammates and finished safely in the field to hold the red jersey, with his GC rivals close by and no changes in the overall standings.

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