The riders of UAE Emirates XRG have won the team time trial at the Vuelta a España. Visma | Lease a Bike posted the second-best time, which once again secures the leader's jersey for Jonas Vingegaard.
Of course, the riders climbed to Limone Piemonte on day two of the Vuelta a España, but to see the first major gaps between the GC contenders, it was necessary to wait for this team time trial. In any case, it was a golden opportunity for Jonas Vingegaard to reclaim the red leader’s jersey from David Gaudu over the 24 flat kilometers in Figueres.
The Belgian Lotto team was the first to start and didn’t do too badly at all. The riders completed their team time trial at an average speed of 56 kilometers per hour, which logically earned them the first spot in the hot seat. The next five teams would bite hard on that initial target time, but when Lidl-Trek took the start, Lotto’s riders started to feel the pressure.
Things looked good for Lidl-Trek and Mads Pedersen for a long time - photo: Cor Vos
Rightly so, because with strong rouleurs like Mads Pedersen, Giulio Ciccone, Søren Kragh Andersen, and Daan Hoole, they had an impressive lineup. At the first two intermediate checkpoints, Lidl-Trek smashed the top time, though they lost quite a few riders along the way.
When Carlos Verona also fell off the railing, the American team’s riders had to finish with the minimum of four riders. They managed to be 18 seconds faster than Lotto at the finish. New best time!
Soon after, it was INEOS Grenadiers' turn, another impressive squad featuring Ben Turner, Michal Kwiatkowski, Magnus Sheffield, and Filippo Ganna. The Brits started their team time trial fiercely: at the first split, they were seven seconds faster, but a few kilometers later, Pedersen and his team regained the advantage. Towards the end, INEOS faded a bit more, so Lidl-Trek’s time held strong.
And that would remain for quite some time. Especially since several other teams encountered incidents. Former Italian champion Matteo Sobrero crashed heavily face-first, seriously disrupting Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and costing them several seconds. Meanwhile, the riders of Israel-Premier Tech were deliberately obstructed by some pro-Palestinian protesters.
UAE Emirates XRG celebrates - photo: Cor Vos
The Lidl-Trek riders stayed in the hot seat a little longer, but the two big favorites for the win, UAE Emirates XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike, still had to start their time trial. Especially the team led by Joao Almeida and Juan Ayuso made a big impression along the way. At the first checkpoint, they copied the fast start of INEOS Grenadiers, with the difference that they could sustain that effort. At the finish, they were a full nine seconds faster.
Then things went less well for Visma | Lease a Bike and Jonas Vingegaard: at the first checkpoint, they limited the gap, but after 16 kilometers of racing against the clock, they had to concede 17 seconds to the best intermediate time.
Fortunately, the yellow jerseys – down one rider due to the early crash of Axel Zingle – managed to rally to the bitter end. Victor Campenaerts, Matteo Jorgenson, Dylan van Baarle, and co gave it their all and finished just eight seconds off UAE Emirates XRG.
Vingegaard and his team thus saved their skin: the Dane was able to retake the leader’s jersey from David Gaudu, who, with Groupama-FDJ, was nowhere to be seen. In the overall standings, the Yellow Bees took second place, making a strong move relative to most other GC favorites.
Vuelta a España| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25:26 | |
| 2 | + 08 | |
| 3 | + 09 | |
| 4 | + 12 | |
| 5 | + 16 | |
| 6 | + 17 | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | + 22 | |
| 9 | + 24 | |
| 10 | + 27 |
