Vuelta peloton struggles under Visma dominance: 'He’s like a mini-Van Aert'

When it comes to sprints in the Vuelta a España, second and third place in this stage are the highest achievable finishes. Bryan Coquard won once because Matthew Brennan was held up by a crash, but in the other four opportunities for fast riders, the Brit from Visma was ruthless. Together with Wout van Aert, the Visma sprinter is making the peloton suffer.

Stage 16 marked the fifth sprint opportunity for the fast riders in the Vuelta, though they often had to tackle a lot of elevation gain to get there. That was less of an issue on Tuesday, though. Was Brennan more vulnerable in a completely flat finish? No.

Although the yellow-and-black Visma train didn’t come into view until late in the race once again, Van Aert and Brennan were right there when the final straight began. The Belgian in the green jersey accelerated, once again securing an easy victory for Brennan. Van Aert himself also finished in the top ten once again.

Coquard finished second, and he must have wondered at some point: How much could I have won without Brennan? “I couldn’t have done any better,” concluded the Frenchman from Cofidis, who said he didn’t get a perfect lead-out.

His lead-out man, Alexis Renard, nearly crashed in the final stretch, forcing Coquard to find his own way and eventually latch onto Van Aert’s wheel. “It was a battle to get to the front, and I knew I had to make my move a little earlier. With Van Aert there, that was actually impossible.”

Coquard is in excellent form, but he knows that he’ll likely end this Vuelta with just one victory. “Wout knows exactly how it works, and Brennan is so strong—he’s like a mini-Van Aert. I tried to follow Wout, but they were just too fast.”

Vito Braet finished in third place riding for Lotto-Intermarché. It was a nice boost for both sides, as reported by Eurosport. “This means a lot to me, because I really struggled in the heat during this Vuelta,” said the 25-year-old sprinter.

Braet also noted how difficult it is to even have a chance at victory, with Visma | Lease a Bike out in front. “With a lead-out like this, Brennan is almost unbeatable. And Christophe Laporte has already pulled away, so that makes it even more impressive that they’re doing so well.”

For Braet, however, there was certainly reason to be satisfied. “We were grouped together at the back of the pack in the final kilometers because of the headwind. Starting at the last roundabout, we wanted to move up, but we lost sight of each other. I was on my own, but I still managed to finish third.”

Coquard and Braet have another chance at a sprint finish on Stage 17. But they'll have to hope for a small miracle. “We’ll let Visma do the work, and then all we can do is try to play our cards right,” said Coquard.