Published on : 09/01/2026
Following a rest day, the Vuelta riders returned to action on Monday with a stage tailor-made for puncheurs, featuring around 3,000 metres of climbing, before a sprint finish.
With only a 5 per cent chance of the stage ending in a bunch sprint, the team had opted to play the Bryan Coquard card rather than attempt a breakaway. Samitier put in a remarkable performance, leading the pace-setting effort alongside the Visma-Lease a Bike team, before being relieved 50 km from the finish.
The finale proved tricky, marked by a crash and numerous attacks, before the peloton regrouped for a sprint. Poorly positioned in the final few hundred metres and caught out in the last kilometre, Bryan Coquard was unable to show his full potential and finished 13th on the stage.
The reaction
Gorka Gerrikagoitia, sporting director:
“A gruelling stage, with 3,000 metres of elevation gain, tailor-made for puncheurs. For the sprinters, there was only a 5 per cent chance of it coming down to a sprint, so we set off with the plan to play the Bryan card. It wasn’t our plan to be in the breakaway, because we didn’t stand much of a chance of getting a result there.
On this sort of stage, we tried to control the race alongside the Visma-Lease a Bike team. We started riding with Samitier, who had a superb stage, then we brought Louis Rouland onto the front 75 km from the finish. The finish was tricky, with a crash and lots of attacks, but it ultimately came down to a sprint. Bryan wasn’t very well positioned and didn’t produce his best sprint. I think he could have done much better, but he got caught out in the final kilometre, so we didn’t have the right positions at the end. He finished in the top 15; it’s not the result we were hoping for, but the team did a very good job, particularly Samitier, Rouland and Buchmann.”