Jonas Vingegaard looks back with satisfaction on the first real mountain stage in the Vuelta a España. The Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike lost his red jersey to early breakaway rider Torstein Træen, but saw Juan Ayuso completely fall apart afterwards. "It was okay," he remarked afterwards on TV2.
"It was a bit difficult to gain time on the rivals today," continued Vingegaard, who, together with Giulio Ciccone, managed to ride ahead of the other favorites on the final climb for a while. "We tried, and of course we lose the leader's jersey, but we were not riding with the goal to keep it either. So this is fine for us."
"I actually felt I rode well," said the leader of Visma | Lease a Bike about his climbing performance. "From the start, we said that I expect to get better as the Vuelta progresses. The legs felt good, and we can look forward to the last fifteen stages."
Ayuso out of contention
While Vingegaard's legs felt strong, it was a very different story for Juan Ayuso. The Spaniard, who was considered one of Vingegaard's main rivals for the Vuelta, crossed the line only in 62nd place. Now it's all on João Almeida at UAE Emirates XRG. UAE had two leaders for today, but one of them lost eight minutes (Ayuso lost seven minutes and 32 seconds to the group of favorites, ed.). "That’s good for us," concluded Vingegaard.
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04:12:36 | |
| 2 | + 54 | |
| 3 | + 01:10 | |
| 4 | + 01:15 | |
| 5 | + 01:52 | |
| 6 | + 02:05 | |
| 7 | + 02:15 | |
| 8 | + 02:19 | |
| 9 | + 02:42 | |
| 10 | + 04:19 |
