Almeida and Ayuso ranked 28th and 35th: "It’s better for our team that Vingegaard has the red jersey"

Neither rider, both of whom had interrupted preparations, was able to make an attempt at the stage win. In Ceres, where David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) held off Danes Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), Almeida finished 28th and Ayuso 35th.

"It was a super tough finish, really hectic," Ayuso said in his flash interview. "A mix between an uphill finish where you need to be at the front and a sprint finish with all the chaos that brings. It was messy because everyone wanted to be up front, even more so than in a normal sprint stage or summit finish."

"But there were no time gaps and we didn’t crash, so all in all it was a good day," Ayuso added, even though Vingegaard gained four bonus seconds. "Of course you'd prefer your rival doesn’t gain time, but it is what it is."

The Spaniard is now also wearing the white jersey. "That’s always nice to have. It’s the jersey I wore and won in 2023, so it brings back good memories and I hope I can keep it all the way to Madrid," said Ayuso, who still feels the true hierarchy in the race hasn’t fully revealed itself yet.

"I think it’s too early to draw conclusions. I believe Andorra will be the first real test of this Vuelta. Until then, I just hope to get through the stages safely and without losing time, then we’ll see," he added. "I actually think it’s better for our team that Vingegaard is the one wearing the red jersey right now."