Always critcial Vingegaard content with Visma | Lease a Bike’s powerful Vuelta finale
CyclingSaturday, 13 September 2025 at 18:05
Jonas Vingegaard would have preferred to dominate even more, but the Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike was all smiles during the flash interview after stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. Vingegaard sealed the deal with a late attack on the Bola del Mundo, securing his third stage win of this tour and the red leader's jersey.
“It was worth the wait,” Vingegaard nodded, having said so often in recent weeks that he had been saving his legs, that Visma | Lease a Bike had taken it easy, and that the Vuelta would only be won in the third week. “I would have liked to have won in Bilbao and on the Angliru, but the Bola del Mundo is also very special.”
Vingegaard had some off days in the second week. He wasn't completely fit and was beaten by João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG) on the Angliru on day 13. Two days earlier in Bilbao, the stage was suspended due to pro-Palestinian protests. We would almost forget the first week, in which Vingegaard won impressively on days 2 and 9 and took the lead in the GC.
Continue reading below the video
Vingegaard felt better than ever on final Vuelta day
But of course, we won't forget those stage wins. The stage on the Bola del Mundo was his third victory of this Vuelta. And on Sunday in Madrid, with that red jersey, he will add another one. “Normally, nothing will change tomorrow. Hopefully, it will stay that way and I will ride into Madrid wearing the red jersey.”
Anyone who saw and heard Vingegaard would almost think: do another week. “I felt better today than on the last uphill finishes, so I'm pleased with how it went today and how the team has ridden these three weeks. They were exceptional, without them I couldn't have done it.”
Continue reading below the video
Vingegaard had something left in the tank and wins the Vuelta by more than a minute
The attack with which Vingegaard won the stage was explosive. “I didn't feel very comfortable with the pace set by João and Jai (Hindley, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, ed.), but I knew I had a good chance of winning the stage. At a certain point, I went for it and immediately opened up a gap. The last few meters were incredibly tough; I almost rode into the barriers,” laughed the almost-Vuelta winner.
Vingegaard's ultimate superiority was reflected not only in three stage wins but also in the GC. The two-time Tour winner's lead in Madrid will be 1 minute and 16 seconds over Almeida and 3 minutes and 11 seconds over third-placed Tom Pidcock. At the top of the Bola del Mundo, his wife Trine was immediately called: Vingegaard's third Grand Tour victory is secured!
IDL-productions
Favorites stage 21 Vuelta a España 2025 | A festive evening in Madrid, and one last chance for the sprinters
Preview GP Montreal 2025 | A crucial final rehearsal ahead of 2026!
From Sepp Kuss and Kobe Bryant to van der Poel’s golf and MTB buddy: The role models driving his MTB World Championship ambition
LIVE stage 20 Vuelta a España 2025 | Brutal Bola del Mundo ensures the best is saved for last
Course and results Vuelta a España 2025 | Brutal mountain stage on Saturday expected to finally decide the Vuelta
Latest Cycling News
Despite mass protests: Riccitello celebrates victory and will head to Madrid in a white jersey with Israel on it
Ciccone and Bernal can head to the World Championships feeling good, Landa misses out on last chance: "Sometimes it's quite sad"
Totally exhausted, even Pidcock is emotional after an incredible Vuelta: "I am very proud of myself"
After Del Toro, UAE is also surprised by Almeida, but has no regrets about chasing Vuelta stages
Niermann and Kuss admitted they already knew this morning: "We talked more about winning in red than defending the jersey"
Popular Cycling News
"Family men" Vingegaard and Pogacar support each other and call for change: "That’s very old-fashioned"
Course and results Vuelta a España 2025 | Brutal mountain stage on Saturday expected to finally decide the Vuelta
Classifications Vuelta a España 2025 | Vingegaard, Pidcock and Riccitello have the last laugh on the Bola del Mundo
Vine hints at decisive Vuelta attack by UAE and Almeida against Vingegaard: "Final climb is just a bonus"
LIVE stage 20 Vuelta a España 2025 | Brutal Bola del Mundo ensures the best is saved for last
Latest Comments
- Roger Vlaeminck says Mads is not a good rider? Where is the headline saying you don't even have to be a good rider to win the World Road Championship says Roger Vlaeminck, who never won it!!? Perhaps his aging mind needs to think about what the heck he's saying.packfiller7103-09-2025
- Wow, there is so much criticism of the UAE XRG riders. Why so much criticism is being leveled solely at the riders is baffling. The UAE XRG management deserves a good amount of the criticism aimed at the team, as a whole. They have not managed the talent they have at all. They failed miserably to properly handle young Isaac del Toro on that penultimate day of the Giro. And they have not handled Juan Ayuso well either. If they didn't have Tadej Pogacar in their roster, we might not be talking about them as winners, at all. So many think that Ayuso has shown that he is not a "team" player at all. Does anybody think that he might be thinking about his own future at this point? That he might want to feel like the team has his back, when they load the pressure onto him? And Joao is not a team leader. That burden might be laid on him by the management, but they need to properly support that assignment, not make it a contentious situation, within the team. And then how management has conducted themselves throughout this parting of ways between themselves and Ayuso has been totally indiscreet. And yet people want to pile onto Ayuso when he tells the truth about the manner that this is all soap opera is developing. He wants out. He shouldn't be getting so much negative criticism for that. It's a situation that has soured. Yes he has a contract, but he is not the first, nor will he be the last that wants to get out of a relationship that just isn't working anymore. And DeCauwer seems to have very vague reasons for criticizing Almeida. He does realize that Jonas is the second best Grand Tour rider of this current generation, so it should be no shame that Joao is behind him in the standings. Riders are giving their all in an extremely difficult sport that stretches them, often beyond their limits. Now many are wanting to send them to Behavioral School as well? The criticism ought to mellow out, or it ought to simply be ignored, as nothing more than blah, blah, blah, not worth the headlines it gets
reemmo002-09-2025 - In 5yrs, Pogi will be a top Twitch streamer living on baked goods while Urska is still racing.Veganpotter11-08-2025
- All they learned is that at the end of a 3 week race, Wout can beat him on a slightly bumpy stage. Obviously, this is very much thanks to Wout not racing for GC every day. This doesn't teach them a thing for Jonas beating Pogi. Not saying Jonas will never beat him again. But this absolutely won't have anything to do with it if he does beat him.Veganpotter28-07-2025
- Well, he eventually Pogacar pays the price for his insane spring campaign which was really crazyRosenkohl196125-07-2025
- Maybe I was a bit disrespectful to Heiden. What he did was unique and exceptional but he wasn't the only one who combined those distances, nowadays it is just not possible and nobody competes in both distances. The same is true for cycling with for example the combination of Roubaix and de Tour de France. In Merckx era there were more riders who managed a top10 in both races than currently.Joostmehrtens19-06-2025
- Two old men shouting at pigeons in the park…JonS16-06-2025
- Out of touch old men hankering after their youth through rose tinted spectacles, their arrogance almost outshines their irrelevance. Turn the volume down, this modern stuff just isn't music like we used to sing...johnny20whales16-06-2025
- In talking speed skating, the days when Heiden did that, nobody else did that. And Eddy couldn't do the equivalent of the bike. His 200 on the velodrome was good, but not world competitive for gold. Heiden was in his own world on the ice, moreso than Eddy if we pretend Eric didn't have a very short career on the ice.Veganpotter16-06-2025
- They wouldn't have dropped HIM so easily.... the GOAT. They would have dropped the rest from that era easily thoughVeganpotter16-06-2025
Loading
