Ayuso entertains the fans, Jay Vine goes all out for Almeida, even if he loses the polka dot jersey

On Thursday, UAE won its fifth (!) stage in this Vuelta with Juan Ayuso, who was accompanied all day by Marc Soler. The two Spaniards clearly had to recover from those efforts on Friday, because in the plan to launch Almeida to the Angliru, we never saw Soler and Ayuso working at the decisive moment.

“I'm disappointed because I couldn't do much more. I really suffered today,” said Ayuso, who opted for a steady pace on the Angliru and celebrated briefly with the Spanish fans along the side. Almeida didn't necessarily need the two Spaniards either, because with Jay Vine, Ivo Oliveira, who had come back from the breakaway, and finally Felix Großschartner, Almeida was launched.

The Portuguese leader rode away from everyone except Vingegaard. Almeida did win the stage and is now 46 seconds behind his Danish rival.

In the balancing act between stage wins on the one hand and Almeida on the other, UAE remains divided. Vine was also on the move so often in the first week, winning a total of two stages and his polka dot jersey, but on Friday, the Australian clearly shifted his focus to Almeida on the Angliru. “One of my main goals is to be in a team that wins a Grand Tour.”

According to Vine, Almeida is capable of doing that. “When João didn't finish the Tour de France and made it to the Vuelta, I knew he would be in top form. On days like today, it's just hard work. I'm proud to have contributed, because winning on the Angliru is incredible. That's just pure power.”

According to Vine, all the work for Almeida did not come out of nowhere. The team leader is riding excellently, as the team can see. “João never says he feels good, even when he's flying. He says he feels better, or something like that. But the plan was to go for it on the penultimate climb and drop him off as quickly as possible for the steepest sections. After that, it was up to him.”

Almeida's victory could have consequences for Vine. Now that the Portuguese rider seems to be in contention for the overall victory in the Vuelta, UAE may have to conserve some energy in all those breakaways. Vine is already on board with that. “Personally, I would love to win the polka dot jersey, but the bigger picture is the red jersey. If I have to give up the polka dot jersey for João, I'll do so with pleasure.”