Jonas Vingegaard secured his first World Tour victory in over a year during stage two of the Vuelta a Espana.
Jonas Vingegaard has reclaimed the coveted red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana after his Visma-Lease a Bike team finished second in the stage five team time trial.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG clinched the stage victory in Figueres, completing the 24.1km course in 25 minutes and 26 seconds, a mere eight seconds ahead of Vingegaard’s squad.
Lidl-Trek, led by Giulio Ciccone, initially set the benchmark but ultimately finished in third place, nine seconds behind the winners.
UAE’s impressive 74th victory of the season propelled their trio of Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida, and Marc Soler to within eight seconds of two-time Tour de France champion Vingegaard in the overall standings.
France’s David Gaudu, who emerged victorious in the third stage and held the overall lead after four days of racing across Italy and France, now sits in sixth position, 16 seconds behind Vingegaard, while Ciccone is fifth.
British rider Tom Pidcock’s Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team finished eighth, 22 seconds behind UAE, placing him 13th in the GC standings, 30 seconds behind Vingagaard.
The fifth stage featured fifteen national time-trial champions, with the team’s time determined by the fourth rider to cross the finish line.
Thursday’s sixth stage of the Vuelta will present the first significant mountain challenge of the year, a 171km journey across the Pyrenees from Olot in Catalonia to Pal in Andorra.
This will be followed by another demanding mountain stage from Andorra la Vella to Cerler on Friday.
Why Vuelta might be more competitive than the Tour
What do different colour jerseys mean at Vuelta?
GB’s Pickering in 200km taxi ride to make Vuelta
1. UAE Team Emirates-XRG 25mins 26secs
2. Visma-Lease a Bike +8secs
3. Lidl-Trek +9secs
4. Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe +12secs
5. Ineos Grenadiers +16secs
6. Movistar +17secs
7. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale same time
8. Q36.5 Pro Cycling +22secs
9. Groupama-FDJ +24secs
10. Lotto +27secs
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma–Lease a Bike) 16hrs 11mins 24secs
2. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +8secs
3. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) same time
4. Marc Soler (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) same time
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +9secs
6. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +16secs
7. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) same time
8. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +20secs
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) same time
10. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +22secs
Comments can not be loaded
To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser