According to Riis, Vingegaard was wise not to accelerate: "If you blow up there, you won’t come back"
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Follow us on GoogleJonas Vingegaard has defended his red jersey impressively so far in the Vuelta a España, but in the last two mountain stages, the Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike didn’t exactly appear to have energy to spare. He limited himself to following the strong João Almeida. Fellow Dane Bjarne Riis believes Vingegaard was right not to waste energy.
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On the Alto del Angliru, Almeida applied serious pressure. During the brutal climb, the Portuguese leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG took the initiative, and Vingegaard could only sit on his wheel. A stage win wasn’t in the cards: he had to let his rival take it. On Saturday’s climb to La Farrapona, the red jersey wearer once again wasn’t able to make a big difference. He only picked up a few bonus seconds on Almeida.
But Riis sees that Vingegaard is managing his energy wisely. “If you want to make a difference on Angliru, you really need to have great legs,” the Dane explained in his column for BT. “And if Jonas didn’t have them, it was a very smart move to just stay in the wheels. If you blow up on the Angliru, you blow up hard, and you don’t come back. If he had doubts about his legs, he shouldn’t attack here.”
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Riis praises patient Vingegaard: "But why didn't Almeida attack"
Some people wondered why Vingegaard didn’t try to ride away from Almeida on the Angliru. “But why didn’t Almeida attack?” said the 1996 Tour de France winner. “Yes, he rode at the front the whole way, but we didn’t see any change in pace. Sometimes it’s just too hard to launch an attack on such a steep climb. Accelerating can be risky.”
So while Vingegaard doesn’t necessarily look stronger than his rival when the going gets really tough, Riis still sees him as having the advantage. “I’m not really worried. He looks fine, but the lead isn’t comfortable, and there’s still a time trial to come. We can expect Almeida to be fast there. If they get that team under control, it could become dangerous for Jonas.”
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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