After an intriguing Team Time Trial (TTT) on stage five of the Vuelta a España, the overall classification is finely poised. The battle between the overall contenders for the red jersey has ebbed and flowed for the first five stages, and has been set up perfectly for the mountains to come. There is no time for the dust to settle — the Pyrenees loom and the 2025 route enters its fourth country in as many days, as stage six finishes in Andorra atop the climb to Pal.
Underneath the surface of this specific Grand Tour hierarchy, lies an enduring narrative of the leadership hierarchies within teams — a clear direction for some, more ambiguous for others. To be specific: there are no doubts over Visma-Lease a Bike’s pecking order. In Jonas Vingegaard, they have one of the best Grand Tour riders of the century and although their Americans, Sepp Kuss (himself a Vuelta winner) and Matteo Jorgenson (a two-time Paris-Nice champion), are capable of top GC results, it is all-in to support the Dane for the Dutch super team.
There will be no repeat of that awkwardness and ungainly team tactics that went on during the 2023 Vuelta. Vingegaard’s lieutenant, Jorgenson was resolute at the finish of the chaotic and enthralling TTT, saying, “we came to win the stage, we definitely didn’t meet that objective, but of course for the GC of the Vuelta, seven seconds is not going to be the winning margin in Madrid.”
Despite missing out on the stage win, Visma did re-inherit the red jersey, which to Vingegaard is a privilege: “Every day in a leader’s jersey is super nice so I am happy to be back in the red jersey,” he told reporters at the finish.
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“We lost eight seconds today, but I am still eight seconds in front and that we can be happy about. In general we can be happy with how the team performed today. Everyone was super strong,” the overall favourite said at the finish.
With the key mountain stages yet to come, Vingegaard acknowledged that he didn’t know how his form would compare to his level at July’s Tour de France, but one thing he and his team knows is that without the spectre of Tadej Pogačar looming over, Visma are the favourites for the maillot rojo. They were so at the start of the race and nothing has changed five stages in.
However, it’s not just Vingegaard who is being influenced by the world champion’s absence at this Vuelta — UAE Team Emirates-XRG are navigating their route to red. The TTT stage winners UAE produced a stellar performance to claim the stage win, and in Juan Ayuso and João Almeida, they now sit in second and third on the overall.
There is nothing about their tactics that can be criticised so far, the Spanish and Portuguese riders have both performed well so far and realistically couldn’t have done much better after five stages of racing. They crossed the line together at the front of their team on the TTT.
After the unifying and celebratory chants of ‘UAE! UAE! UAE!’ Almeida spoke of the collective performance during the TTT: “We knew we would be fighting for the win, but there are a lot of good teams here and we need to be realistic. I think we did a perfect job and we deserve it as well. For the team atmosphere to get even better, I think it’s good [to win the TTT]. It gives us confidence as well, but, of course, the gaps are small. It’s a good start.”
UAE executed a masterful pacing plan, which Almeida acknowledged, “we had a plan and we did it perfectly. Everybody was super strong. We had some surprises in a good way. So, it was an amazing team effort. [Towards the finish] Everybody was a little bit tired. We were just going all-in. I was always looking back to see where my teammates were because the time that counts is the fourth guy. We worked together, I just kept trying to smash the pedals to get every second.”
At this point in the race, there was never going to be any clarification of which of the two riders — Ayuso or Almeida — were the outright leader. At May’s Giro — a race UAE could have won — Isaac del Toro was left relatively unsupported and his bid for the maglia rosa fell apart on the Colle delle Finestre, due to a Visma heist. Even at this early point in the Vuelta, they should keep this in mind. A dual leadership strategy can go up in smoke. There is no doubt both riders want to win, that goes without saying.
Almeida knows with no Pogačar racing, the 2025 Vuelta represents one of his best chances of a Grand Tour win. He wasn’t against the idea of hunting the leader’s jersey early too, “I would like to have [the jersey] actually. It’s a beautiful jersey, I’ve never worn it before, so it would be nice to have it for the first time. It doesn't matter when. We are closer and closer to it, let’s see, maybe one day we will grab it, but we will give everything we have.”
This Vuelta looks again to be a Grand Tour battle between the two biggest teams in cycling. Visma won the Giro through Simon Yates, with UAE in second thanks to Del Toro. At the Tour Vingegaard was second to Pogačar. The Vuelta result will decide the best Grand Tour performing team of the year — going by results at least. Vingegaard remains the favourite, but if UAE use their dual leader threat, they could try and put the Dane under pressure.
Since the French Grand Tour, the question of ‘Can Visma beat Pogačar?’ has changed to ‘Can UAE beat Visma without Pogačar?’. As the Vuelta enters familiar territory, we will find out soon enough.
