Pogacar still in red but eclipsed by Brit at Vuelta

Young British rider Matthew Brennan has finished strongly to win the second and longest stage of the Vuelta a Espana, even eclipsing race leader Tadej Pogacar.

The 21-year-old Brennan capitalised on good work from Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout van Aert in an uphill sprint to get ahead of runner-up Pau Miquel and third-placed Pogacar on Sunday.

The way unbackable race favourite Pogacar attacked the finish gave away his determination to stay in the leader's red jersey, which he did in excellent style after the 214.3km hilly trek through Provence in southern France lasting over four and three-quarter hours.

Pogacar, who edged Ethan Hayter by 0.09 seconds in the opening time trial on Saturday, leads the general classification by nine seconds from van Aert, with Brennan another second behind in third.

Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Jay Vine is the leading Australian, lying seventh overall 18 seconds behind his team leader.

The action really unfolded with just under two kilometers to go, as van Aert kicked for home on the uphill finish, followed by Pogacar.

They were joined by Alessandro Romele, then others, before Brennan emerged to take his first stage victory on his Grand Tour debut just over two weeks after his 21st birthday.

Monday's stage will feature the riders tackling the first mountain stage of the 81st edition, a tough 174km route from Gruissan-Aude past the city of Perpignan before the climb to the ski resort of Font Romeu in the Pyrenees.