Kevin Vermaerke rides to seventh place in Vuelta a España breakaway

UAE Team Emirates-XRG continued to race aggressively at the Vuelta a España, with the American Kevin Vermaerke taking seventh place on stage 13 in Spain. The American was part of the day’s breakaway and made several efforts to take his first professional win, before settling for a top-10 outing.

Since the untimely departure of Tadej Pogačar last weekend, the Emirati squad has reoriented its goals to stage victories, with the remaining riders all having spent time in breakaways this week.

Vermaerke, the latest to try his luck out front, has been in the breakaway on both Thursday and Friday, racking up a cumulative 278km spent at the front of the Vuelta. The efforts epitomise the American’s attacking spirit and tireless endeavour – traits that will hopefully be rewarded before the end of the race in Granada.

In his latest exploit, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man was up against it, with the breakaway counting both Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan (both Visma-Lease a Bike) amongst its number. Brennan, already a three-time stage winner at this year’s Vuelta, and Van Aert, the Paris-Roubaix champion, pack a fearsome one-two punch that will continue to give headaches to the rest of the peloton.

The presence of each Visma-Lease a Bike rider served to neutralise many of the attacks on Friday afternoon, with either Van Aert or Brennan sitting as an anchor on the attackers in question. With their teammate behind, they had the numerical advantage and the physical capacities feared by the rest.

As such, Vermaerke continually looked to spring a surprise on the pair and make his moves alone. The American is only improving as this Vuelta continues, and stage 13 showed his finest form yet. Time and time again, the 25-year-old would look to seek his fortune up the road. His attacks were bold and fearless, despite ultimately coming up short.

Eventually, the stage honours were gobbled up by Van Aert, who delivered his definitive attack inside the final 4km. Using a slight uphill rise, the Belgian made a powerful acceleration and was only followed by Valentin Paret-Peintre. Van Aert, recognising his superior sprint as opposed to the Soudal Quick-Step rider, stomped on the pedals and ensured the rest of the break would not contest the win.

With Van Aert having taken the stage victory, Vermaerke crossed the line as part of the chasing group, sprinting to seventh place in Loja. It was not the win that the American had been hoping for, but he could be satisfied with his efforts on a scorching afternoon in the saddle.

Vermaerke: “This one and stage 15 are my two targets, and I knew it suited me with a climb a little bit further from the finish. I knew it would be tactical, and I tried to just play my cards right and always be up the road in the right moves. You know Van Aert’s going to go on these little kickers, and you’re just trying to prepare for it. I just didn’t have the legs to follow.

“I knew that was the moment, and when it passes, it’s gone and you kick yourself. But I gave everything today and it was a tough day out. You have to just use your bullets as smartly as you can. I knew the Visma guys you can’t let them go up the road, so I tried to just follow, especially Van Aert. I tried to anticipate when he would launch from the back, and the strongest man won today. It was just a dogfight in the end.

“We’ll see on Sunday if I have a chance. Everyone’s on the limit now in this race, I think, so you tend to see the same guys in the break, and hopefully I can try again on Sunday.”

Vuelta a España 2026 stage 13 results:

1. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4:34:00

2. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t

3. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) +24″

7. Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

Vuelta a España 2026 general classification after stage 7:

1. Enric Mas (Movistar) 45:08:51

2. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 1:45

3. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) +2:06