It doesn’t take long for fatigue to set in during a Grand Tour—and the chirping begins!
The GC riders finished together on Stage 7, but that didn’t stop UAE Emirates’ João Almeida from taking a little dig at the odd-son favourite, Jonas Vingegaard.
“I feel good every day. That’s a good sign. And I’m looking forward to the next big battle,” Almeida told Eurosport. “I asked Marc Soler to set the pace on the final climb, but honestly, I expected it to be harder. Still, I gave it a go. The others behind didn’t want to work, but whatever—it’s another day ticked off.”
The post-race interview also touched on the tactics of two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. “He didn’t really have to push today. So I’m not surprised he didn’t, and in a way I get it,” he said. “But it is what it is—he doesn’t pull that often, does he?”
His teammate Juan Ayuso took a great win, after faltering the day before. The Spanish rider is no longer a GC contender, which means it’s all up to Almeida to try for the maillot rojo.
“I’m not surprised by what he did today. He’s an amazing, super-strong rider. Sure, he has his ups and downs. But he definitely deserves it. He was brilliant today,” Almeida said.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Torstein Træen kept his leader’s jersey, though he admitted it wasn’t easy. He finished in the selection with Vingegaard, Ayuso, and Pidcock—the favourites for the win. “On the last climb, my only job was to stick with the strongest riders—that in itself felt new to me,” he said.
Stage 8 is flat, so the GC riders can ‘relax,’ but they still need to make it to the line safely. They also want to use as little energy as possible, as
Stage 9 is another tough summit finish from Alfaro to Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray, covering a total of 195.5 km. The final climb is 13.3 km at an average of 5.2 per cent but the finale is steep and punishing. It should be another battle between the riders going for the overall—and maybe, just maybe, Vingegaard will pull. Or better yet, drop everyone.