Sunday, August 31th, 9th stage: Alfaro > Estación de esquí de Valdezcaray
On the eve of the first rest day, Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) put the hammer down to claim his second stage win ) this time solo, after his narrow success in Limone Piemonte (stage 2). The Dane launched his move more than 10 kilometres from the line at Valdezcaray and rode clear to victory ahead of Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates–XRG), his closest challengers (+24’’). Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) tried to respond but cracked, losing 1’46’’, the same time as Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious). The Norwegian keeps La Roja into the first rest day, 37’’ ahead of Vingegaard, with Almeida (+1’15’’) and Pidcock (+1’35’’) next in the standings.
The first rest day is almost there, but the peloton of La Vuelta have more than 3,300 metres of elevation to overcome en route to a summit finish at the Valdezcaray ski resort before enjoying a sweet Monday.
A most hard-fought break
Attackers are inspired by this final challenge before the rest day, but they struggle to make the break. Repeated moves are swiftly covered, until Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) manage to go clear at km 48.
The peloton are on their heels but the duo hold firm and receive support in several waves. First, Michel Hessmann (Movistar) and Liam Slock (Lotto) join them at the front. Then Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL) makes it a five-man breakaway at km 63.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Sander De Pestel (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) briefly try to bridge across but are reeled in by the bunch. The Dane’s teammates are tasked to control the gap alongside Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5. The attackers’ lead never stretches beyond 2’45’’ (km 100).
Vingegaard takes off
Intermittent showers don’t dampen the bunch, but the attackers give it their all to resist. Their lead is still up to 55’’ into the last 20 kilometres. But they’re eventually reeled in at the bottom of the final climb: 13.2km with an average gradient of 5%. Lidl-Trek set the pace on the first slopes, the hardest.
Suddenly, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) produces a brutal acceleration to launch Jonas Vingegaard’s assault with 11 kilometres to go. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) tries to follow but he’s dropped 10 km away from the summit.
Vingegaard rides clear to the summit, where Pidcock and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) come first behind him (+24’’). Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) loses just over 1’, and the rest of the GC contenders 1’46’’, in a group also featuring Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious), who retains La Roja with a 37’’ margin ahead of the first rest day.
Stage 9
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) 4h32’10”
- Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +24”
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) +24”
GC
- Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) 33h35’46”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +37”
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) +1’15”
