João Almeida (UAE Team Emirate-XRG) snatched stage victory from race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at the end of a stunning showcase of climbing ability on the brutal slopes of the Alto de l’Angliru as the two main red jersey contenders rode clear of the field on stage 13 of the Vuelta a España.

Almeida delivered considerable efforts on the long and infamously-steep ascent of the Angliru, riding Vingegaard off his back wheel on the final few hundred metres of the 12.5km ascent. It came after a relentless day which saw a surreal average speed of 41.6 kph on the 202.7km stage with over 4,000 metres of climbing.

Behind them, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) formed the main chase behind the two race leaders, after the main contenders group caught and swallowed the last survivor of the day’s breakaway – Bob Jungels (Ineos Grenadiers) – on the slopes of the Angliru.

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Second placed, overall leader of the Team Visma-Lease a Bike, Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard, is pictured after the 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, a 202 km race between Cabezon de la Sal and L'Angliru, on September 5, 2025. (Photo by Miguel RIOPA / AFP)

Expression of effort made by race leader Jonas Vingegaard, with second place on the stage (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Yes this is a special one, I still don’t believe it,” Almeida said following the race finish.

“Thanks to my teammates, they were key today,” he said. “We did an amazing stage. I just put my pace from the bottom, and I just did the best I could. Jonathan was always on the wheel.

“The last kilometre was on the limits. I guess we’re both on the limits. I was waiting for his attack anytime,” he added. “I thought he might pass me in the finish line, but I knew the finish line from two years ago. So I took the last corner, and then it’s hard to pass.”

Reflecting on the infamous savagery of the climb, he said, “I think this is the hardest time in the world. It’s crazy. I’m very sore.”

Almedia was cautious with his red jersey aspirations. “I have a lot of time to make up to Jonas, but he’s looking phenomenal, so I think it’s going to be a hard task,” he said. “But we never give up.”

Almeida gained only four seconds in the overall classification, now 46 seconds down on the red jersey, while despite a palpable time loss for Pidcock, he remains in third at 2:18, ahead of Hindley, who has moved into fourth place at a gap of 3:00.