Vuelta: Bastien Tronchon Surprises Everyone on Stage 10
Bastien Tronchon surprised everyone on the 10th stage of the 2026 Vuelta a España. The French rider from Groupama-FDJ United won at the finish line in Elche de la Sierra after an unusual sprint, claiming one of the most prestigious victories of his career. The stage, 184.7 kilometers long and starting from Alcaraz, did not, however, change the standings in the general classification: Enric Mas (Movistar) retained the Red Jersey without any particular difficulty.
The day began with a breakaway group of seven riders: Enzo Paleni and Michael Gogl, both of Groupama-FDJ United; Jasha Sütterlin (Team Jayco AlUla); Fabian Weiss (Tudor Pro Cycling Team); Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH), Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), and Iván Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma). However, the peloton decided not to give the breakaway riders too much leeway, with Cofidis and Visma | Lease a Bike setting the pace and keeping the gap under control.
The most significant breakaway occurred on the Puerto de Socovos, a 9.8-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 3.5%, the stage’s final categorized climb. The increased pace put several riders in difficulty, including Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). For Visma | Lease a Bike, Matthew Brennan took it upon himself to neutralize the attack attempts and protect Wout van Aert. In the final stretch, the peloton gradually reabsorbed the breakaway riders, though there were still new attempts. The last to try were Fedorov and Azparren, who attempted to catch the peloton off guard in the closing moments. The move, however, was unsuccessful, and the peloton reached the home straight virtually as a single block.
That’s when the surprise came. Tronchon capitalized perfectly on the sprint, managing to outpace his rivals and cross the finish line first in Elche de la Sierra. Behind him were Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek). Wout van Aert took fourth place, while fifth place went to Italian Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana Team). For Tronchon, this is a significant victory, coming at the end of a stage in which the peloton seemed destined to decide the winner in a sprint finish. The Red Jersey, meanwhile, remains firmly on Enric Mas’s shoulders, allowing him to look forward to the upcoming stages of the Vuelta with confidence.
