The 81st Vuelta a España is in the books, and after four previous podiums and no wins, Enric Mas is finally a Grand Tour champion. Mikel Landa turned back the clock, and Sepp Kuss pulled off the ride of the race. Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel won Quebec and Isaac del Toro captured Montreal, 2 weeks before Worlds. Let's get into it. In this video: Podium Report: Enric Mas won the Vuelta a España. Say it out loud, because a month ago nobody — not even his own sponsors — had that on their bingo card. Final podium: Mas in red, four-time champ Primož Roglič second at 2:15, and Felix Gall third at 2:44, backing up his 2nd place at the Giro. Who had Gall as this year's most consistent Grand Tour rider? Richard Carapaz 4th, Sepp Kuss 5th — more on Sepp in a minute. This is Mas' first Grand Tour win, Movistar's first since 2019, the first Spaniard to win the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014, and the first Grand Tour since 2022 not won by Visma, UAE, or Red Bull. Yeah. It's been a minute. Americans in the Mix: Sepp Kuss. Wow! Let’s zoom out on Sepp's year for a minute, because it has been wild, with Sepp doing Sepp things. First, the Giro d’Italia in May: 13th overall while shepherding Jonas Vingegaard to victory — and he won Stage 19 in the Dolomites, completing the set of stage wins in all 3 Grand Tours. Then the Tour de France in July: 13th overall, and 3rd on the Alpe d'Huez stage after crashing twice on the descent while leading. THAT was scary! And this month’s Vuelta: 5th place! Three Grand Tours in one season, and he literally got stronger as the year went on. Spicy Takes 🌶️: A Wide Open Worlds? No Pogačar might actually make Worlds better. Look, I hate that Tadej is hurt and that he isn't racing. But while superstar dominance is great for the history books it has been terrible for suspense. With him gone, Montréal flips from "how do we stop one guy" to a genuine free-for-all. Belgium suddenly has the delicious problem of Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert on the same team. Van der Poel, Seixas, Del Toro — all of them now have a real path to the rainbow jersey. Last week I said Wout is my pick. and I’m standing by it. But I'll say this: Del Toro looked incredible Sunday. Fight me in the comments. Remco is his own worst enemy. Fifteen miles from the finish in Montréal, Brandon McNulty demolished the peloton. Where was Remco? Sitting up, yelling at a Trek rider for drifting into his line. As per usual, Whining. Waving his arms. Meanwhile the race rode away and Two miles later, he had to bridge 30 seconds solo just to get back in it, so by the time Paul Seixas went, Remco didn’t have the juice. On Sunday, Remco beat himself. Have opinions? Drop your "Spicy Take" in the comments below! ⏱️ Chapters [00:00] – Welcome to VIBE Racing! [00:25] – Podium Report: Pogačar’s Dominance, Vingegaard’s Crash, Remco’s Climb [03:59] – Americans in the Mix: Quinn Rides for Team, Sepp Has a New Role [06:38] – Spicy Takes 🌶️ A Wide Open Worlds? [07:24] – Spicy Takes 🌶️ Remco is His Own Worst Enemy Ride with VIBE Tours in Europe: VIBE Tours: https://www.vibetours.co/ VIBE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibetours.co/ VIBE on Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/1394120 Join a VIBE ride:VIBE DC — https://www.strava.com/clubs/1219246VIBE Boulder — https://www.strava.com/clubs/2114683 Start one in your city: Jerzy Romanowski, jerzy@vibetours.co Shop: https://www.vibetours.co/gear-storeJoin VIBE+: https://www.vibetours.co/vibe-plus VIBE Racing is the weekly pro cycling show: sharp analysis of the world's biggest races, an unapologetic focus on Americans in the pro peloton, and takes spicy enough to earn the name. Hosted by Ayesha McGowan — former cycling pro. New episodes every week. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@vibe.racing?sub_confirmation=1 © 2026 VIBE Tours, LLC
