Cycling-Briton Brennan takes second Vuelta stage win, Pogacar in control

Britain's Matthew Brennan took clinical advantage of a high-powered Visma-Lease a ​Bike lead-out as he won stage five of the ​Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday -- his second ‌sprint ​victory in what is his maiden Grand Tour.

The young rider was given a red carpet ride into the final 50 metres by first Belgian great Wout van Aert and then ‌Christophe Laporte and he finished in style to cross the line comfortably ahead of Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rider Jordi Meeus. Slovenian race leader Tadej Pogacar cruised home safely in the pack, having seized total control with his mountain masterclass in Andorra on the previous ‌stage.

While Pogacar looks in a league of his own in the battle for the red jersey, sprinter Brennan, 21, has ‌underlined his credentials as one of the best young riders in the peloton. He held off Pogacar in a sprint at the end of the second stage and showed his power again at the end of the 173km route from Falset to Roquetes after easily dealing with the day's main climb towards ⁠the end ​of the stage.

"When you have ⁠Matthew there in a group like that, it's the best card to play and I didn't even need to see the replay to see how he ⁠finished that one off," Van Aert said after congratulating his young team mate. Relishing his second win, Brennan showed his appreciation for having two ​of the Dutch team's biggest names working for him.

"It's not a bad (job), better than a normal day job," Brennan, ⁠who won the prestigious Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne one-day race this year, told TNT Sports. "That's my second one in the bag in my first Grand Tour. I'm just very ⁠thankful ​to finish it off again and I think the boys are quite relieved. It was spot on today. Wout and Christophe are the best guys in the world for this type of thing and they supported me all the way into ⁠the final."

After the fireworks of the previous day when UAE Team Emirates leader Pogacar lit up the mountains with a 50km ⁠solo ride to victory to ⁠take the overall lead by three minutes 21 seconds, Wednesday's stage was a slow burner. Pogacar will look to inflict more pain on his rivals on Thursday with a medium mountain day from ‌Alcossebre to Castellon ‌de la Plana on the Mediterranean.