Enric Mas moved to the verge of victory in the Vuelta a España after extending his overall lead to 2mins 15secs on the penultimate day, leaving only a largely ceremonial final stage on Sunday. The Movistar rider, 31, has led the race since Tadej Pogačar abandoned after a crash on stage eight and is positioned to claim his first Grand Tour title if he avoids trouble on the closing circuit around Granada.
The headline result on the mountainous 186.8km route from La Calahorra to Collado del Alguacil belonged to veteran Mikel Landa. The 36-year-old, riding for Soudal Quick-Step, was part of a three-rider escape and surged clear on the final climb to take the stage, finishing 47 seconds ahead of Tobias Johannessen. The win is Landa's fifth Grand Tour stage victory, his first overall success since 2021 and his first Vuelta stage triumph since 2015.
Among the general classification contenders, Felix Gall gained a few seconds but did not seriously threaten Mas, who responded to repeated attacks from Richard Carapaz and stayed in touch with his nearest rivals. Sepp Kuss rode between the break and the GC group for much of the day and climbed from 11th to fifth overall, reshaping the top positions with an aggressive ride.
Britain's Oscar Onley finished more than three minutes behind Mas on the day, but his performance secures him the white jersey as best young rider. The final stage is a 112km loop of Granada that begins outside a supermarket, passes the Alhambra palace and finishes on the Paseo del Salon, a route organisers expect will not change the overall standings.
Stage 20 was won by Mikel Landa in a time of 4hrs 58mins 1sec, with Tobias Johannessen at +47secs and Ramses Debruyne at +1min 27secs. The overall classification after stage 20 lists Enric Mas on 70hrs 56mins 58secs, Primož Roglič at +2mins 15secs and Felix Gall at +2mins 44secs, with Richard Carapaz and Sepp Kuss completing the top five.
With only the processional final day remaining, Mas needs only to reach the finish safely to become the first Spanish winner of his home Grand Tour since Alberto Contador's 2014 victory.
