A nasty remark from Almeida and widespread criticism, but Ayuso adamantly responds: "Pushing 5 minutes longer makes no sense"

Almeida did not seem to be in the best position to respond to Jonas Vingegaard's acceleration, but the Portuguese rider still managed a strong final climb. “I did well, but Vingegaard flew. I couldn't keep up with him when he attacked, even though I felt good on the climb,” Marca reported after the race. The loss of 24 seconds did not cause panic. “Nothing has changed. I feel good. We're going to try to improve until the end. Every day is a new day, and anything can happen.

“Almeida elaborated further in front of the Eurosport camera. ”I was well-positioned, but it was really fast. Ultimately, I couldn't really close the gap. It is what it is." The UAE team leader couldn't resist taking a dig at his team. “I think I missed my teammates a little bit today. No one was really there anymore. So yeah... It is what it is.” Given the progression of the Vuelta, it wasn't difficult to guess which teammate the remark was aimed at.

Almeida's words are particularly striking when you consider that Ayuso quickly dropped back on the final climb. The Spaniard from UAE has often been the subject of controversy, as he does not always seem to give his all for his teammates. The climb of the Col du Galibier in last year's Tour de France was perhaps the best example of this. At that time, a visibly irritated Almeida forced him to work for team leader Tadej Pogacar.

On Sunday, in the ninth stage of the Vuelta, Ayuso eventually finished in 157th place in the stage results, more than twenty minutes behind stage winner Vingegaard. After the race, the criticism, in addition to Almeida's remark, was directed firmly at Ayuso. Roxanne Knetemann spoke of an “arrogant brat,” while Thijs Zonneveld saw that at UAE, “they don't feel the need to sacrifice themselves for each other in any way.”

The question is: could Ayuso have done more? The Spaniard himself thinks not. "I was pretty tired and couldn't help the team much. I'm not in the fight for the GC, so there's no point in pushing for the sake of pushing," Ayuso said firmly. According to him, whether or not he had made an effort for Almeida would not have made much difference. “I wouldn't have been there. Pushing five minutes longer makes no sense.”