Vingegaard sews up Vuelta a España with victory on Bola del Mundo

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) will win the Vuelta a España in Madrid on Sunday after he soloed to victory atop Bola del Mundo on stage 20.

The red jersey withstood the forcing of rival João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the wickedly steep final 3km of the climb, and he cemented overall victory by pressing clear alone with a shade over 1km to go.

Vingegaard claimed his third stage win of the race at the mountain top to ensure he will claim the third Grand Tour victory of his career on Sunday.

His teammate Sepp Kuss came home in second at 11 seconds, while Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took third at 13 seconds.

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) did enough to ensure a podium finish by crossing the line just five seconds down on Hindley, while Almeida, the Vuelta lost, settled for fifth on the stage at 22 seconds.

A day with some 4,000m of climbing in the Sierra de Guadarrama was marked by a 34-man early break and by the fierce pace-making of UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the red jersey group.

Their efforts meant that a high-octane break had only a minute in hand over the top of the penultimate climb of the Alto de Navacerrada. It was clear then that the stage honours would be decided by the GC contenders, but the stage hardly ran smoothly.

A human rights demonstration against Israel-Premier Tech’s presence in the race saw the break briefly halted with 16km to go, while the red jersey group only barely squeezed through at the same point.

Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) were the last men standing from the break, and they hit the final ascent still with a minute in hand on the chasers, but their gap dwindled as Felix Grosschartner and then Jay Vine set a rasping pace for Almeida.

They were caught with 3km to go, just as the route swung onto the steep concrete road leading towards Bola del Mundo. Vine swung off at the same point, leaving Almeida to take up the reins in a bid to put Vingegaard into difficulty.

The Portuguese rider stuck at his task for a kilometre or so, but he couldn’t shake off Vingegaard, with Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) also following.

Hindley took over with 2km to go in a bid to shake off Pidcock. At one point, he briefly forged clear with Vingegaard, but they couldn’t stretch the gap to Almeida, Pidcock and Kuss, who bridged back up soon afterwards.

With a little over a kilometre to go, Vingegaard sensed he was the strongest of the quintet and he seized the chance to put a seal on his Vuelta. He is 1:16 clear of Almeida with just the processional final stage in Madrid to come, while Pidcock is 30 seconds clear of Hindley in third.

There was a sense of foreboding about the penultimate stage of the Vuelta given the race’s history in this neck of the woods. Vueltas that looked to be already won have been frittered away in the Sierra de Guadarrama over the years, and both UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe looked committed to testing Vingegaard’s resolve here.

That was a typically rapid start to proceedings, with Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) leading the race over the first climb of La Escondida. Over the other side, the early break took shape, with some 34 riders clear by the time they hit the second climb, La Paradilla.

Egan Bernal (Ineos), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) were among those in front, but, crucially for Vingegaard, there was no representative from UAE.

Indeed, UAE looked committed to a different strategy. Rather than flinging riders up the road, they were intent on setting a brisk pace in the peloton, and they found a willing ally of circumstance in Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Their combined efforts meant the break was never able to establish a lead of much more than two minutes, and by the long valley between the Alto del León and the category 1 Alto de Navacerrada, it was already clear that the stage winner would come from the red jersey group.

On the first ascent of the Navacerrada – they would later climb up the other side on the approach to Bola del Mundo – Red Bull would use up their last domestique, leaving Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari to fend for themselves. 

The burden of the race fell squarely upon UAE from there, and Juan Ayuso put in his longest shift of the Vuelta on behalf of Almeida, helping to whittle the red jersey group down significantly, though Vingegaard still had the bulk of his Visma guard with him.

Out in front, the break was down to five riders, and Jardi van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) led them over the top with a lead of a minute on the red jersey group, where Ayuso was still at the helm.

The organisation opted to reroute the race around the town of Cercedilla after the Navacerrada, which removed the intermediate sprint, due to the possibility of disruption from human rights protests against Israel-Premier Tech’s presence in the race.

That measure did not prevent disruption, with demonstrators briefly halting the breakaway with 16km to go. The following red jersey group was only just about able to squeeze through, though their following team cars were halted for a little longer.

Amid the tumult, Landa slipped away, and he was joined by Ciccone, and that duo began the final climb with a minute in hand on the red jersey group, where Felix Grossschartner was setting the tempo for Almeida.

Amid the tumult, Landa slipped away, and he was joined by Ciccone, and that duo began the final climb with a minute in hand on the red jersey group where Felix Grossschartner was setting the tempo for Almeida.

It was clear then that the stage and the entire Vuelta would come down to a Vingegaard-Almeida showdown on the steep final 3km on the concrete road. Almeida, as ever, was wholehearted in his effort, but he was again unable to break Vingegaard. 

By the final 1500m, Vingegaard could already sense the Vuelta was his, and he put his seal on it by pressing clear.