Jonas Vingegaard started the Vuelta a España two weeks ago as the top favorite and after fifteen stages is in pole position to win the race, but the Dane certainly does not consider himself a sure winner yet. His closest rival João Almeida is still only 48 seconds behind, with four crucial stages still ahead.
Nevertheless, the man in the red jersey relies on his own strength. "I believe in it 100%. We have an incredibly strong team and I also feel that I’m still getting better," he says in an interview with the Danish TV2. "I’ve already had a few good days in this Vuelta, but there were also some not-so-good days, if I can put it that way. But I really believe I will improve during the final week."
In his chase for his first overall victory in the Tour of Spain, there are still four crucial stages to come. The riders will face three mountain stages on Tuesday (to Castro de Herville), Wednesday (to Alto del Morredero), and Saturday (to Bola del Mundo), but on Thursday they will also race against the clock once again.
This 27-kilometer time trial in and around Valladolid runs mostly over flat terrain and could well be the decisive stage for the general classification. Vingegaard is certainly on high alert. "Almeida is also an exceptionally good time trialist. He’s just a very strong cyclist, but I have to focus mainly on my own performance. I want to perform as well as possible, but the time trial isn’t exactly my specialty."
| 1 | - | 57:35:33 | |
| 2 | - | + 48 | |
| 3 | - | + 02:38 | |
| 4 | - | + 03:10 | |
| 5 | - | + 03:30 |
Not the best memories
Two years ago, the riders raced almost exactly the same time trial course in the Vuelta, and back then Vingegaard had to give up quite a lot of time to his rivals.
An interesting detail: that day the Dane had to concede almost half a minute to Almeida. "Things didn’t go so well then," Vingegaard recalls. "I do hope to deliver a better time trial this year."
Valladolid) Valladolid
