A sleepy day at the Vuelta a España, eh. Nothing to learn, nothing to deduce from it, of little consequence. Just a transition day en-route to the capital, the calm before the storm. Ha. Not quite. OK, Jasper Philipsen won the stage to Guijuelo, his third victory in this year’s race. We already knew he was the best sprinter in the race, so there’s no surprises with the result. Not much to say, other than to pose the question once again if Alpecin-Deceuninck are the best sprint team of this century. They’re certainly as drilled, as clinical and as united as other teams who can lay a claim to that title: HTC-Highroad and various iterations of Quick-Step.
But this 162km jaunt down the Vía de la Plata – the Silver Route – was also noteworthy in the GC fight. It didn’t bring gold offerings, but it brought the next best thing: a juicy bonus no one had even thought about prior to the day. Jonas Vingegaard lost 10 seconds to João Almeida in the previous day’s time trial, and it was reaffirmation that the momentum had swung towards the Portuguese rider ahead of the crucial stage 20 blockbuster denouement at the Bola del Mundo.
Vingegaard stole a march at the intermediate sprint on stage 19.
Yet 53km from the finish of stage 19, with just one doomed breakaway rider up the road, Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike team were attentive to the intermediate sprint. UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Almeida were not. With no one else bothered, Vingegaard and Jorgensen stole a march on the peloton and scooped up four and two bonus seconds, respectively.
Almeida spotted the attack late, gathered a couple of his teammates to counter-attack, but by then it was too late: almost half of the deficit he had cut on stage 18 had been wiped out. Vingegaard’s lead now stands at 44 seconds. In a race for red that could very feasibly come down to seconds, Vingegaard’s improvisation and Almeida’s sleepiness could be the difference. “I don’t think so,” Vingegaard replied, half-laughing, when asked if this was a mental boost. Don’t listen to him. It is. That momentum that Almeida had? Yeah, not so powerful now. It’s Vingegaard who’s buoyed, he who is now on top of the mind games.
It was a reminder – and it’s possibly now too late for Almeida to correct it – that riding GC in a Grand Tour is a full-time job for three weeks. There can be no moments of switching off, no time for drifting at the back of the peloton. Even on days like stage 19 where the sprint teams amass at the front and permit the GC teams an easier stroll, GC leaders have to be focused, alert and forever observant. They need eyes in the back of their head, always aware of where their chief rivals are. Almeida will be kicking himself.
Almeida and his UAE team are at the front of the peloton – but not when it mattered most.
As for Philipsen, this latest triumph registers as his 16th Grand Tour stage victory. He’ll be the first to add the caveat that his main adversaries – Jonathan Milan, Tim Merlier, Olav Kooij – are not here, but it once again proves what a classy sprinter he is, and what an elite leadout he has. Philipsen has been surviving ever since winning his last stage on the race’s second weekend, 13 days ago. He’s been anonymous, out of sight, out of mind. But he’s powered through the mountains and kept his team intact, all in preparation for sprint opportunities on stages 19 and 21. That’s a man who doesn't take his eye off the ball: he knows his objectives, knows how to reach it, and when it’s time to appear from the wilderness and perform, he does.
Sprint days are boring, some – many? – say. But they highlight who the fastest in the sport are, and a perfectly-trained leadout like Alpecin-Deceunick possesses is always a beautiful sight. Sprint stages can also have a say in the general classification battle. Just ask Vingegaard and Almeida. What difference will those four seconds have on the race’s final outcome?
