Great Britain's Matt Brennan claimed his maiden Grand Tour stage win on Sunday in the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana, a 214km ride from Monaco to Manosque. The 21-year-old Brennan, competing in his first major tour, launched his sprint in the final kilometers to secure the victory.
Initially, Brennan's teammate Wout van Aert and Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar were expected to contend for the stage win. However, Van Aert was caught in the closing kilometers, and Pogacar chose to conserve energy, opening the door for Brennan.
"We started off with the ambition of Wout trying to get in the red jersey today," Brennan said. "We had that plan and then I was always going to be in the background for the sprint in case that plan [didn't work] ... and that's exactly what happened. Hopefully it's not the last one, but it's nice."
Pau Miquel Delgado of Bahrain Victorious finished second, with Pogacar crossing the line in third place.
Pogacar, who won Saturday's opening time trial by a narrow margin, continues to lead the general classification. He holds a nine-second advantage over second-placed Van Aert heading into Monday's third stage.
Brennan has moved up to third overall in the standings, 10 seconds behind Pogacar. Another British rider, Ethan Hayter, who was narrowly beaten by Pogacar in the opening time trial, had been part of an early breakaway and briefly looked set to take the overall lead after winning an intermediate sprint. However, he fell back and finished 31 seconds off the lead, placing him 13th in the general classification.
Josh Tarling, also from Britain, finished 125th in the stage. Tarling's participation comes just eight days after his brother Finlay died in a crash.
The race will move into the French Pyrenees on Monday, concluding with a mountain finish in Font Romeu near the Spanish border.