'We choose our days' - Headwind limits Vingegaard's aggression at La Farrapona

Although UAE Team Emirates-XRG set the pace most of the way up the ascent, Almeida opted against attacking in the headwind on the upper part of the climb. Vingegaard ultimately outsprinted Almeida for second place after Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had launched the only attack from the red jersey group with a little over a kilometre to go.

“It was actually okay, I think the legs were okay today,” Vingegaard told TV2 afterwards. “Here on the last climb UAE tried, but we knew there would be a headwind, and it’s just hard to make a difference if there’s strong resistance like that, because you get too much of an advantage out of sitting in the wheel. I think UAE realised that too. At least, that’s the feeling I have.”

Vingegaard had teammate Victor Campenaerts policing the day’s early break, but his Visma | Lease a Bike team was content to allow the move to gain an advantage, and it was Almeida’s UAE squad who took up the reins as the terrain grew mountainous in the latter part of the day.

“We choose our days when to go for it, and today was not one of them,” Vingegaard said. “Of course, there is also a tough week next week, so you have to choose your days, and that’s what we did.”

By outsprinting Almeida for second place, Vingegaard picked up two seconds in bonuses on his rival to extend his overall lead to 48 seconds. With Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) slipping to 2:38 back in third overall, the Vuelta looks distinctly like a two-way tussle between Vingegaard and Almeida.

“Today I wasn’t going for the win, so second place is a nice bonus, if you can say so. I took two seconds off João,” Vingegaard said. “He’s always very consistent, he’s always very good in the third week so I think next week will be a big fight for the red jersey.”

The Vuelta is also a duel between UAE and Visma, who have won a Grand Tour apiece this season. Simon Yates divested Isaac del Toro of the maglia rosa on the last weekend of the Giro before Tadej Pogacar claimed an emphatic win over Vingegaard at the Tour de France. 

The Vuelta will decide the series, so to speak, though UAE’s overall haul of wins is unassailable. Marc Soler won from the break at La Farrapona, bringing their running tally for the season to 80 victories and UAE have also claimed seven wins out of the fourteen stages so far on the Vuelta.

“UAE are definitely on a roll, you could say,” Vingegaard said in his post-stage press conference. “They’re definitely doing well: seven victories is very impressive. But we only focus on ourselves, to be honest. We have two stage wins ourselves, and we have the leader’s jersey. I feel like I’m in a good place, I’m happy where I am.”