'It can be a very brutal stage' - Vingegaard wary as Vuelta reaches Basque Country

It was a day of turbulence over at UAE Team Emirates-XRG, but Jonas Vingegaard enjoyed an afternoon of relative calm on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España as he moved back into the red jersey of race leader on the summit finish at Larra Belagua.

True, João Almeida unleashed a volley of attacks on the final ascent, but Vingegaard responded readily each time, and he had Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson on hand to help shepherd the GC group towards the finish.

With leader Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious) dropped by UAE’s forcing, Vingegaard was directed towards the podium at the stage finish to take possession for the maillot rojo once again. The Dane leads Traeen by 26 seconds, with Almeida third at 38 seconds.

“I’m now in the red jersey and hopefully I can keep it until Madrid,” Vingegaard said in the press conference truck afterwards. “At least I hope the legs are good enough that we can keep it for the rest of the race.” 

The Vuelta’s visit to Navarre saw local idol Miguel Induráin on hand for the ceremonial duties. “Standing next to Induráin on the podium is very exciting,” Vingegaard said. “He’s a big idol in cycling, a big legend, so being on the podium with him is very special.” 

Miguelón would undoubtedly have approved of the lowkey way Vingegaard managed his resources here. After a crushing stage win at Valdezcaray on Sunday, Vingegaard preferred to follow a controlling brief on the first stage after the rest day. 

It’s surely helped Vingegaard’s cause that Almeida is UAE’s lone leader after the departing Juan Ayuso’s GC hopes imploded spectacularly in Andorra last week. Ayuso remains in the race, despite his imminent departure from UAE and despite his stinging criticism of management. He teed up Almeida’s onslaught here before swinging off. 

“I mean, for sure it makes it easier for me that I only have to follow one guy from the same team, so they can’t try to attack me over and over again,” Vingegaard said. “It’s more that I have to follow Almeida from UAE and a few other guys from other teams. It makes it a bit easier for me.”

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) continued his fine Vuelta by coming home alongside Vingegaard, and the Briton remains fourth overall, 58 seconds off the red jersey. “To be honest, he doesn’t surprise me,” Vingegaard said. “Tom is a super good rider, and that he’s up there just shows how good a rider he is. I see him as one of the big rivals for the GC here.” 

On Wednesday, the Vuelta enters the Basque Country with a punchy stage starting and finishing in Bilbao. There are bonus seconds on offer atop the Alto de Pike, which is followed by a fast descent into the city.

“It’s a hard stage. It can be a very brutal stage,” said Vingegaard, who will be racing in the region for the first time since his horrific crash on the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country. 

“It could be both ways, to be honest: it could be a breakaway, it could be a GC day. It’s a lot of small but very steep climbs so it’s a typical Basque stage. We have the mindset that we don’t underestimate the stage.”