"Cycling is a simple game: 150 men ride their bikes for a few hours, and at the end, UAE Team Emirates always wins." That's what Gary Lineker would likely say if he was watching La Vuelta and it would be hard to argue with him. For the seventh time in this edition of the Spanish race, Pogacar's superteam blasted to victory, and they did it with a fourth different rider—a very rare feat in the history of Grand Tours. Unfazed by their enormous amount of victories, Visma Lease a Bike and Vingegaard remain in the lead with one week of racing left, hoping that Jonas will find his best legs in the third week like he usually does.
Despite some statements from the team management announcing that UAE won't target stage victories anymore and will instead rally around their team leader Joao Almeida, the temptation was apparently too hard to resist for Marc Soler, who sneaked into the big breakaway of the day alongside his teammate Mikkel Bjerg. After spending a lot of energy yesterday, Visma Lease a Bike preferred to play it safe again and gave up any plan to win the stage with Jonas Vingegaard. It was UAE Team Emirates instead who started the offensive with 40 km to go, on the hardest climb of the day: Puerto de San Lorenzo. Assigned to his new role as a helper, Juan Ayuso behaved and set a very high pace at the front of the peloton, thinning it down considerably. At the top of the climb there were only 14 riders left in his wheel who managed the climb with a time of 32:32, a new climbing record.
The foot of the final climb to La Farrapona offered viewers some comedic relief when UAE started to chase full gas after their own teammate who had jumped alone from the breakaway with 16 km to go. It seemed like the morning plan didn't include a scenario where Soler was leading the race, and UAE wanted to make the race hard and attack with Almeida, even if they risked losing the stage victory. The usual headwind that blows up this climb was Marc Soler's salvation, and while it made him crawl in the last kilometer, it also dissuaded any all-out attack from Almeida or Vingegaard. The Catalan took his much-desired stage win, while behind him, Jonas and Joao crossed the finish line together just like on Angliru—this time, though, with the Dane winning the sprint for second place. Due to the unfavourable wind conditions, they didn't manage to beat Contador's 2014 record, clocking a time of 18:24—41 seconds slower than El Pistolero.
Heading into the third week, Jonas Vingegaard maintains a lead of 48 seconds over Joao Almeida, which means that every saved drop of energy might count to make a difference between them if their levels remain similar. On paper, during the coming decisive battles on Morredero and Bola del Mundo, Jonas's teammates should be fresher than Joao's because they didn't chase personal glory in the breakaways. It is obvious that for UAE the all-time record of victories during a season is a much bigger goal than Almeida's overall victory in this Vuelta. So the most important question left is not if Almeida can beat Vingegaard but who is the next UAE member who will bring the 8th victory for the team? Felix Grossschartner? Domen Novak? The bus driver? The cook? We shall see, it's a simple game after all.
Course Details: 11.2 km at 8.0% average gradient
32:32 - 15-rider peloton (20.66 km/h)🏆
36:05 - 50-rider peloton (18.62 km/h)
33:56 - 25-rider peloton (19.80 km/h)
32:41 - Intxausti, Bruseghin (20.56 km/h)
32:51 - Daniel Moreno (20.46 km/h)
33:04 - 30-rider peloton (20.32 km/h)
Course Details: 6.1 km at 9.0% average gradient
18:24 - Vingegaard, Almeida (19.89 km/h)
20:29 - Marc Soler (17.87 km/h)
19:42 - Aleksandr Vlasov (18.58 km/h)
20:46 - David Gaudu (17.62 km/h)
17:43 - Alberto Contador (20.66 km/h)🏆
18:39 - Juan Jose Cobo (19.62 km/h)
19:17 - Rein Taaramae (18.98 km/h)
