Almeida & Ayuso Close on Vingegaard – Vuelta a España Update
UAE Team’s Time Trial Victory Boosts vuelta hopes
UAE Team Emirates have delivered a important morale boost with a stunning victory in the team time trial, closing the gap to race leader Jonas Vingegaard. Co-leaders Juan ayuso adn João almeida are well-positioned, trailing Vingegaard by just eight seconds.
the win is notably impactful after a strong start to the race by Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike, who dominated the opening stages, with Vingegaard holding the yellow jersey for three of the first five days, including a stage win at Limone Piemonte and a third-place finish on Monday.
However, the tables turned on the return to Catalonia.While Visma-Lease a Bike were favoured to win the lengthy TTT – having previously triumphed in a similar event at Paris-Nice in March - it was UAE who seized the opportunity. This victory places them within striking distance of Vingegaard, demonstrating their potential to challenge Visma’s dominance.
“We’re going to really enjoy this one,” said Sports director Joxean fernández Matxin to Spanish TV. “It’s our 74th win of the season, our team has a grate attitude towards racing in general and this is a very special one.”
Matxin explained that the team had to re-recon the course after initial assessments proved inaccurate, noting the route was more technical than originally anticipated, with sections forcing riders into single file. UAE specifically bolstered their time trial capabilities by bringing riders like Mikkel Bjerg, Jay Vine, Ivo Oliveira, and Felix Grosschartner, anticipating this challenge.
He identified visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek, and Ineos as their key rivals – a prediction that proved accurate.
“Today was a big team effort, so this doesn’t say much about how we’ll perform individually in the mountains, but it was a really nice experience, and it was great to be up there celebrating on the podium with all my teammates,” added Almeida. “They do a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and they don’t often appear on the TV after the finishes, so it was great to…”