Although it’s looking good as Jonas Vingegaard approaches the last stages of the Vuelta, he knows it’s far from a fait accompli. In an interview with Danish broadcaster TV2, he said he and his team feel strong–but there’s still some tough days ahead.
“I believe in the win, 100 per cent. We have a very strong team and I also feel that I am getting even better,” Vingegaard said. He acknowledged both strong and difficult days in the race but remained optimistic about the week ahead. “I’ve already had a few good days in this Vuelta, but there were also some less good days, if you can put it that way. But I really believe that I will improve in the final week.”
The final week: 4 big days
Vingegaard faces four critical stages, including three summit finishes and a 27-km time trial around Valladolid. “João Almeida is also a very good time trialist. He is just a very good cyclist, but I have to focus on my own performance. I want to perform as well as possible, but the time trial is not quite my thing,” he said.
Of course, he may be playing things down. Though he faltered in the first time trial at this year’s Tour de France, he came back strong in the second, finishing runner-up to Tadej Pogačar. And who can forget the Tour’s 2023 decisive time trial when he was so fast he thought his power meter was broken?
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The Dane now holds a 48-second lead over the Portuguese rider. The two have been inseparable on the biggest summit finishes so far, including the Angliru and La Farrapona. It’s the tightest GC battle after two weeks since Richard Carapaz carried only 10 seconds on Primož Roglič in 2020—Roglič went on to win. Last September, Ben O’Connor led Roglič by 1:03 going into the finale, but again the Slovenian pulled on the final red in Madrid.
The podium is tight
Behind the front two, the podium fight is wide open. Tom Pidcock, Jai Hindley and Felix Gall are separated by only 52 seconds. Hindley already has a Giro title and a runner-up finish on his résumé. Gall was fifth at this year’s Tour de France.
In the secondary classifications, Vingegaard’s countryman Mads Pedersen has a commanding advantage in the points. And Jay Vine holds a 22-point cushion in the mountains competition. But the white jersey battle is tighter: Giulio Pellizzari is sixth overall at +4:21, with Matthew Riccitello only 32 seconds back. Both are racing their third Grand Tour. Pellizzari, in his first season with Red Bull, was sixth at the Giro and runner-up in the young rider classification to Isaac del Toro.
The decisive week offers little respite. Tuesday brings a long uphill finish with a mix of categorized and uncategorized climbing. Wednesday’s summit finish is even longer. Thursday’s 27-km Valladolid time trial should tilt towards Vingegaard, while Saturday’s Bola del Mundo—almost as brutal as the Angliru—stands as the last true GC battlefield before Sunday’s traditional procession into Madrid.
That is, presuming the final stage goes ahead as planned. Rumours of major protests in Spain’s capital threaten to disrupt the last day, according to L’Equipe, though Vuelta organizers insist the show will, and must, go on.