'These seconds won't decide the Vuelta' - Vingegaard surprises Almeida
Jonas Vingegaard extended his lead at the Vuelta a España by four seconds on stage 19, but the red jersey knows the race will come down to a contest with João Almeida on the penultimate day to Bola del Mundo.
It wasn’t planned but it always pays to be alert. Jonas Vingegaard and his Visma | Lease a Bike squad were stationed near the head of the peloton as the Vuelta a España rattled through the university town of Salamanca on stage 19, and when the Dane realised he could snare some bonus seconds in the process, he didn’t stand on ceremony.
With just one escapee up the road, there were still four bonus seconds on offer at the intermediate sprint. João Almeida and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad should have been wise to the danger, but inexplicably, they were nowhere to be seen.
Vingegaard drifted off the front to scoop up the softest four seconds he has gained on this Vuelta, extending his buffer over the Almeida to 44 seconds ahead of Saturday’s definitive summit meeting at Bola del Mundo.
“To be honest, it was not the plan to go for the bonus seconds,” Vingegaard said in the press conference truck afterwards. “It was just more that we were in the front of the bunch, because you had to be for the possible echelons, and we saw the opportunity to take four seconds.
“Luckily, I could take the four seconds, so it was a pretty good day. Of course, I don’t think it’s the four seconds that’s going to decide the Vuelta, but you never know…”
Vingegaard and Visma would later try to eke out another opportunity by forcing an echelon with 35km to go, though this time UAE were more vigilant and they quickly stitched the race back together for Almeida.
Still, it was striking that Vingegaard seemed so eager to pad out his advantage ahead of the stage 20 summit finish at Bola del Mundo. The Dane won two stages in the opening week of the race, including a solo win at Valdezcaray on stage 9, but he has appeared to be flagging as this Vuelta has progressed.
It’s only to be expected after his exertions at the Tour de France in July, but it’s meant that Vingegaard has been on the back foot in the third week, following Almeida rather than attacking him. He also lost ten seconds to his rival in the Valladolid time trial on Thursday, and he might have been fortunate that the test was cut from 27.2km to 12.2km due to security concerns amid the ongoing protests over Israel-Premier Tech’s presence in the race.
Vingegaard indicated that his initial strategy would be to race defensively on stage 20, which features some 4,000m of climbing in the Sierra de Guadarrama around Madrid. La Escondida, La Paradilla, the Alto del León and the Puerto de Navacerrada precede the HC climb to the line.
“I think the last week we’ve been more defensive,” Vingegaard said. “Obviously, I’ve been in the red jersey, and that’s how we want to keep it as well. Tomorrow we will also initially think defensively, but if we’re fighting for the stage win, then I’ll go for it, obviously.”
This will be the third time the Vuelta has finished on Bola del Mundo, each time on the penultimate stage of the race. On each occasion, the leader – Vincenzo Nibali in 2010, Alberto Contador in 2012 – did enough to retain red and win the Vuelta.
“It’s a very hard and tough climb,” said Vingegaard, who has not reconnoitred Bola del Mundo. “I’ve seen it on television back in 2012 with Contador, Rodríguez and Valverde battling it out. It’s a pretty iconic climb.”
The Sierra de Guadarrama occupies a special place in Vuelta lore. Just as Verona’s Stadio Bentegodi earned a reputation as the graveyard of AC Milan’s title ambitions over the years, the mountains near Madrid have been the site of some dramatic late turnarounds at the Vuelta.
In 1985, for instance, Philippa York, then competing as Robert Millar, lost the race to Pedro Delgado here in controversial circumstances. In 2015, Tom Dumoulin had to yield his red jersey to Fabio Aru after Astana’s grand offensive on the penultimate day in the same mountain range.
“Of course, it’s happened before,” Vingegaard said. “I will do absolutely everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen tomorrow. I am in the red jersey, and I will do everything I can with the team to keep the jersey. I have good support from the team.”
