photo credits @ La Vuelta
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) all but sealed the overall race title in Madrid today, as he powered to victory on the grueling slopes of Bola del Mundo, the penultimate stage of this years’s Vuelta a España. The Danish climber fended off aggressive racing from UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and then put the hammer down with 1.2 km to go on the steepest gradients of the final climb of the Spanish Grand Tour.
Meanwhile, his lieutenant Sepp Kuss finish in 2nd, further highlighting Visma-Lease a Bike’s dominance, while Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took 3rd but couldn’t push Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) off the overall podium. Already a two-time Tour de France winner, Vingegaard now has five Vuelta stage wins and is set to become the first Dane to win the event, ahead of Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Race Highlights
Ineos Grenadiers forced a strong move on the slopes of the Alto de la Escondida, with Filippo Ganna being the first attacker of the day, followed by Egan Bernal.
The likes of Michal Kwiatkowski, Bob Jungels and Brandon Rivera were also in the mix, eventually forming a 37-man breakaway that went clear on the second ascent of the day, Alto de Parpadilla.
Riders such as local hero Carlos Verona, alongside Mads Pedersen, Giulio Ciccone and Julien Bernard factored prominently in the group, as did fierce attackers like Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), but the peloton didn’t give them much leeway.
Indeed, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe collaborated to keep the gap under 2 minutes, while the breakaway tackled Alto del Leon, with huge gaps occurring on the Alto de Navacerrada.
At the bottom of the final climb, Bernal, Landa and Ciccone rode clear of the group, opening up a slight gap of a minute ahead of the peloton.
From there, Ciccone and Landa dropped Bernal, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG upped the ante in the GC group.
The two leaders were ultimately caught 3 kilometers from the summit, with Jay Vine stepping aside as Almeida took over the pace setting.
With 2.5 kilometers to go, Hindley attacked, a move that was closely followed by Vingegaard, Kuss, Almeida and Tom Pidcock.
However, with just over 1 kilometer to go, Vingegaard attacked, later breezing to victory finishing 11 seconds ahead Kuss to seize the day’s honors.
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