A steep hill in Puerto de Anchares prevented Wout Van Aert (Visma Reese A Bikes) from winning his fourth Vuelta a España, but the Belgian did take the leader's jersey along with the green points jersey.

Finishing fifth, three minutes behind winner Michael Woods, Van Aert took points from a breakaway on the climbs of Alto Campo de Albre, Alto o Portelo, and Puerto de Lemeras.

These 13 points, plus another point at the finish, put him in the mountains leader with 36 points to Adam Yates' 22, and gave him a 13-point lead over Yates' UAE teammates Marc Soler and Jay Vine heading into the race Yates heads into the final eight stages of the race with a 13-point lead over UAE teammates Marc Soler and Jay Wein.

After the stage, Van Aert said that even on the morning of stage 13, he was not thinking about winning the mountains prize. But circumstances can change.

“It was the same this morning,” he said. But I saw Caden Groves going into the breakaway. But I saw Caden Groves going into the breakaway, so I decided to jump because he's still a competitor for the points jersey.”

“From then on, I knew it was going to be a tough day on the attack. Then I'd better try to get it all on the road.” [2021 The double stage of Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France is one of his most memorable feats on the bike. But he admitted that there was no way he could beat the likes of Woods, Soler, and Mauro Schmid on the road to Ancares.

“To be honest, I never really believed in stage wins,” Van Aat said. “I knew that guys like Woods, Vine, and Brandon McNulty would do better on the steeper finishes. Besides, I was too focused on the intermediate points. I had already used up a lot of energy.”

“As long as the gradient stays below 6-7%, I can fight. When the gradient gets steeper, I have no more chances.”

Van Aert is currently the holder of the polka-dot jersey as well as the holder of the green jersey. He will continue to battle for the green jersey and the stage win. As for the mountain prize, we will have to wait and see.

“I'm definitely going to try to survive on the climbs. And we'll see what's possible.”