LOJA: Belgian Wout Van Aert got the better of a two-man sprint after a breakaway to win his first stage of this year’s Vuelta a Espana on Friday, as home rider Enric Mas maintained his overall lead.

Visma’s Van Aert and Aurelien Paret-Peintre attacked from a breakaway late in the 192.8km 13th stage from Almunecar to Loja.

The 31-year-old Van Aert was too strong for the Frenchman in a sprint for the line, clinching the fourth Vuelta stage win of his career after three victories in 2024.

Britain’s Matthew Brennan, who has won three stages already on the race, won the battle for third, 24 seconds behind the leading duo.

Mas, who has led the race since title favourite Tadej Pogacar crashed out during stage eight, kept his 1min 45sec overall lead ahead of four-time champion Primoz Roglic after finishing safely in the pack.

Austrian Felix Gall is 21sec further back in the final podium position, with former Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz 3min 53sec off Mas’s lead in fourth.

Van Aert was part of a large breakaway group early on a day marked by intense heat in Andalusia.

A smaller group of 10 riders later pulled clear and consolidated their advantage on a descent from the day’s final climb with 37km left.

Van Aert attacked with 3.5km remaining and only Paret-Peintre managed to stay with him, until the last 100 metres.

Van Aert, who beat Pogacar at Paris-Roubaix earlier this year, also holds a commanding lead in the points classification.

The peloton face another tough day in the mountains in Saturday’s 14th stage, a 154.5km ride from Jaen to La Pandera featuring two category-two climbs and a category-one summit finish.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2026