Wout van Aert claimed his first stage win of the Vuelta a España on stage 13, which covered 192.8 kilometers from Alumencar to Loja. The Belgian cyclist, riding for the Visma-Lease a Bike team, won a sprint against Valentin Paret-Peintre in the final kilometer of the race. This victory marked van Aert's 15th stage win across the three grand tours—Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España. The stage began with a large breakaway of 43 riders, which split into two groups before reuniting on the final climb, the category-two Puerto de Granada. Van Aert was part of this breakaway, supported by his teammates Matthew Brennan and Bruno Armirail, who played key roles in the sprint finish. Brennan, who finished third in the sprint, praised van Aert, calling it a long-awaited victory for the Belgian rider. The overall race leader, Enric Mas, finished safely in the peloton, and the general classification top eight remained unchanged. The absence of Tadej Pogacar, the reigning Tour de France champion, from his team UAE Team Emirates-XRG has weakened the team, leaving only four riders after Pavel Sivakov also abandoned the race. This has led to a more chaotic race dynamic, with multiple contenders for the overall title participating in breakaways. Jakob Omrzel won stage 12 and moved up to sixth place in the overall standings. Mattias Skjelmose from Lidl-Trek gained more than two minutes on the general classification, taking advantage of the lack of control by stronger teams. The race will continue with a crucial day for general classification riders on stage 14, a 154.5-kilometer route from Jaén to Sierra de la Pandera, featuring a challenging category-one summit finish. In the Tour of Britain, Olav Kooij defeated Tim Merlier on stage three, reversing the result from stage two. Britain's Lewis Askey remains in the overall lead with two stages left, holding a 12-second advantage over Tim Wellens.