In the end, there was no battle to speak about. There was no jaw-dropping comeback from João Almeida, and no finger counting as the seconds ticked by and riders hauled themselves across the line. When he’s needed to step up and assert his superiority in this Vuelta a España, Jonas Vingegaard has done so. And he did it for the final, decisive time on stage 20’s finish up the hideously steep Bola del Mundo.
Everyone was expecting an attack from Almeida, the Portuguese having to cut a 44 second deficit to claim the race win, but one never came. Instead it was Vingegaard who made the winning move, and Vingegaard who crossed the line 11 seconds ahead of the next rider (his teammate Sepp Kuss), and more importantly 22 seconds ahead of Almeida. The Dane, 28, wins the Vuelta a España, his third career Grand Tour triumph. All he needs to do is get through the Madrid stage unscathed.
He hasn’t been at his best these past three weeks – but then would you be at your best after going 21 rounds with Tadej Pogačar just a month previously? Contrary to pre-race predictions, it also hasn’t been an exhibition in dominance, with no utterly convincing wins and his lead never bigger than the 1:16 it is now. That’s in part down to Almeida, who has ridden stronger than ever in a Grand Tour, and pushed Vingegaard further and closer than he had expected. He’s had a genuine battle, a rider he’s constantly needed to keep an eye on.
Discounting the punchier stages where he stole a few seconds, there have only been two instances of Vingegaard going on the attack in the mountains, taking the race to his competitors. And that’s all it required. It’s been a steady, assured, get-the-job done performance. He took 24 seconds on stage nine’s finish to Valdezcaray, and 22 seconds at the Bola del Mundo.
When Almeida was strongest – particularly on the Angliru – he let his opponent do all the pacing, and stuck obdurately to his wheel. That’s how you win a Grand Tour: some days swashbuckling, most days cautious and professional. Definitely not the most exciting, certainly not the most invigorating Vuelta there has been, but that doesn’t matter: winning is what counts, and Vingegaard has done that.
Vingegaard has been able to rely on the committed support of his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates throughout the three weeks of racing.
Mainly because of the presence of Pogačar – and because of GC Kuss and all that well-documented drama in September 2023 – it’s been two years since Vingegaard last won a three-week race. There’s zero shame in that, but being one of the two best GC riders of his generation – perhaps even this century – it was high time for Vingegaard to win a Grand Tour again. Now he’s done it. He can add the Vuelta to his two Tour de France titles.
The Pogačar-sized problem at the Tour doesn’t look to be getting any easier, and so now Vingegaard will turn his attention to the Giro d’Italia to complete the set. If he wins the maglia rosa next May – and he’ll be the runaway favourite – he’ll have yellow, red and pink in his wardrobe before Pogačar.
Vingegaard’s win in Spain also means that Visma-Lease a Bike have won two of the three Grand Tours this year, with Simon Yates spectacularly winning the Giro earlier in the season courtesy of the kind of penultimate day fightback that Almeida really wanted to emulate but was unable to. It should be noted, too, that Visma have achieved that double dose of success by directly beating a UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider. UAE are the sport's winningest team, even when Pogačar is removed from the equation, but Visma have shown a side to themselves that UAE often painfully lack: tactical astuteness and cohesive teammates.
Yates had Wout van Aert on the Finestre as he stole pink off Isaac Del Toro; Vingegaard had Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Ben Tulett and Wildo Kelderman by his side every step of the way during the Vuelta. Almeida had? Occasionally Jay Vine, but infrequently Juan Ayuso. Felix Großschartner has been his most obedient helper, but he’s not of the class of Vingegaard’s domestiques. UAE have the bigger budget, and possibly the stronger individuals, but Grand Tours tend to be won by teams – Visma have proven that. Vingegaard, deservedly, is a Grand Tour champion-elect again. And Visma, deservedly, win more Grand Tours in 2025 than UAE.
