Almeida conquers Angliru but Vingegaard resists onslaught at Vuelta

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won stage 13 of the Vuelta a España by outsprinting Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) after a launching a ferocious onslaught on the mighty Angliru. 

Vingegaard was the only rider who could resist Almeida’s forcing on the wickedly steep climb in Asturias, but the Portuguese rider was unable to shake off the maillot rojo on gradients that inched above 20%.

Thanks to the winner’s time bonus, Almeida has shaved four seconds off Vingegaard’s overall lead, which now stands at 46 seconds. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) remains third overall, but he is now 2:18 off the red jersey.

Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) placed third on the stage at 28 seconds, just ahead of Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), and the Australian is now within touching distance of a podium spot.

Almeida laid down his intentions by setting his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad to work ahead of the final ascent, with Jay Vine setting a brisk tempo from the base of the Angliru. After turns from Ivo Oliveira and Felix Grossschartner, Almeida took up the reins himself with 6km remaining.

At that point, only Vingegaard, his Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Sepp Kuss and an impressive Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) remained on Almeida’s wheel, and the Portuguese rider continued to set the tempo as the gradient rose to 20% and beyond.

Kuss and Hindley were distanced with 4.5km remaining, but every time Almeida turned and looked behind him, he saw an assured Vingegaard stuck to his wheel.

The diesel Almeida kept up the forcing on the mist-shrouded upper slopes of the climb and he made another fierce attempt to distance Vingegaard on the final portion of 20% gradients, but the red jersey resisted.

There was a typically rapid start to proceedings with a flurry of attacking before the early break took shape. The 24-man group contained no threats on GC, but riders like Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar) and Bob Jungels (Ineos) had designs on a prestigious stage victory.

They were never given much leeway by the Visma | Lease a Bike, who were reluctant to allow the stage win escape Vingegaard’s grasp, and the gap didn’t stretch much beyond three minutes.

The average speed was touching an eyewatering 50kph before the race hit the first of the day’s three climbs, which were shoehorned into the last 60km of racing.

Ben O’Connor (Jayco-Alula), Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) and Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) were among the abandons on an attritional day in Asturias, and the break began to fragment on the category 1 Alto La Mozqueta. 

Nicolas Vinokourov (XDS-Astana) led over the top and, remarkably, green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) battled his way back up to the front over the other side and then won the intermediate sprint in La Vega.

The stiff Alto del Cordal – always the antechamber to the Angliru – was next up, with Cepeda, Jungels and Vinokurov pressing on at the head of the race. Tiberi, victim of a mechanical issue, was locked in lone pursuit, cresting the summit 55 seconds down, and the Italian’s hopes would end when he crashed on the descent.

Back in the peloton, meanwhile, the indefatigable Victor Campenaerts was setting the pace for Visma, and his efforts saw Juan Ayuso jettisoned out the back. A day after enjoying the freedom to claim his second stage win of the race, Ayuso would again be a pointed absence from Almeida’s side in the finale.

No matter, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took over at the head of the peloton over the top of the Cordal, mindful of the importance of position on the treacherous descent, and Jay Vine duly led the red jersey group into the bottom of the Angliru.

The escapees were briefly halted at the foot of the climb as police removed human rights activists from the road. They were protesting the presence of Israel-Premier Tech in the race amid Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza.

Jungels dropped Vinokourov when the gradient bit with 7km to go, but by then, the UAE-led red jersey group was closing in rapidly on the front of the race.

The group was also being whittle down under the forcing of Vine and later Grossschartner, with Matteo Jorgenson, Pidcock and Felix Gall among those distanced.

Almeida took over on the upper portion of the climb, and he produced the finest display of his career to claim the summit of the Angliru. He couldn’t shake off Vingegaard here, but he will be heartened by the thought that there’s still a week of the Vuelta to go.