Pogačar might have taken the red jersey, but the Brits dominated the opening stages of the Vuelta a España

The 2026 Vuelta a España was all set to be the Tadej Pogačar show. And as expected, he didn’t disappoint, winning the red jersey at the first time of asking. But in the Pogačar era, that isn’t a surprise to anyone. What was interesting was who filled the 3 places behind him. Three British riders filled spots 2 - 4 four of the opening time trial in Monaco, before Matthew Brennan capped a remarkable opening weekend with victory on stage two.

Time trialling, or 'testing', is part of the DNA of British Cycling. From the Club 10 to Olympic success on velodromes all over the world, the likes of Beryl Burton, Chris Boardman, David Millar, and Sir Bradley Wiggins litter the history books in the same way Spanish climbers or Belgian classics specialists do. But with Wout van Aert hotly tipped to win stage 1 of the Vuelta, the British presence at the top of the leaderboard was a surprise.

No result from the opening weekend carried more weight than Josh Tarling's third place in Monaco. The Netcompany INEOS rider's younger brother, Finlay, died the previous week at the Tour of Portugal. Whether Tarling would even start the Vuelta was uncertain until the last moment, but he decided he wanted to be back with the team rather than at home. Head of Racing Geraint Thomas explained the thinking behind the decision on his own podcast: "Josh is dealing with it in his own way. And, you know, he's a tough guy."

That toughness showed on the bike. Tarling set the fastest time of the early starters and was in the hot seat for some time before the major contenders came through. Tarling eventually finished four seconds behind stage winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The result also meant a trip to the podium for the white young rider's jersey.

Tarling was subdued after the stage, as expected. "I'm happy and thankful for the team to let me come and give it a good crack. I gave it everything I have. I didn't quite have the legs but I put it together okay," Tarling said in his post-stage interview. Whether the death of his brother gave him extra motivation, or he was just going about his business as a first-rate time trialist, is hard to say. But his ride was noted by everyone in the peloton, especially Tadej Pogačar.

Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) produced the ride of his season in Saturday's 9.4-kilometre time trial through the streets of Monaco. The national time trial champion became the first rider to dip under 11 minutes on the technical course, and for a long time it looked like both the stage win and the first red jersey of this Vuelta were his.

Only a late, all-out effort from home favourite Pogačar denied him, the Slovenian crossing the line just 0.09 seconds quicker — one of the narrowest winning margins in Grand Tour history.

And it only came about after Pogačar realised that Tarling was no longer in the hot seat: "Then suddenly I heard another name over the radio. At that point I thought: I'll give everything," Pogačar said after the stage.

Hayter’s loss of the red jersey could be put down to not living in Monaco, unlike Pogačar. The Slovenian described the moment he decided to attack the closing kilometres, even racing past his apartment in Monaco, on roads he knows very well. Unsurprisingly, Hayter was more than a little disappointed to lose by such a fine margin.

If time trialling is a historical part of the UK cycling scene, so is sprinting. While Mark Cavendish might have been born on the Isle of Man, he earned his sprinting chops on the mainland.

Sunday brought a very different test from he go kart track in Monaco. 223 kilometres from Monaco to Manosque, it was the longest stage of this year's race, with almost 3,000 metres of climbing packed into a constantly undulating route. Visma | Lease a Bike went on the offensive in the finale, with Wout van Aert attacking inside the final two kilometres to force a response. Pogačar and Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) bridged across, but the move was reeled in before the line, setting up a bunch sprint on the uphill finishing straight.

Visma played it perfectly. The 21-year-old Brennan, riding his first ever Grand Tour, was untouchable in the sprint, beating Mads Pedersen and Pogačar to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory.

"I’m incredibly happy with this win. The team did an amazing job throughout the entire day, and I can’t thank them enough", Brennan said on the Visma website. "Our plan was to get Wout into the red jersey today. He saw a good opportunity to attack in the finale and was confident it could work. The plan was for me to stay in the background and go for the sprint if everything came back together. That’s exactly what happened."

Pogačar finished third to retain the overall lead, and took most of the headlines. But the British contingent did more than announce themselves on the first two stages of the 2026 Vuelta a España. With Oscar Onley sitting in virtual second in the GC standings as stage 4 plays out, the British influence might be far from over.