Only Vingegaard and Almeida ahead of Pidcock in Vuelta GC; Q36.5 insists: "Continue doing what we do"

The Vuelta would be Pidcock's second Grand Tour with his new team. The Brit also rode the Giro d'Italia in May, where he eventually finished in sixteenth place. The Tour of Spain would therefore actually be the first Grand Tour in which Pidcock would focus entirely on the GC.

So far, that has gone pretty well. The Q36.5 leader has already shown some impressive climbing skills and even managed to drop Vingegaard in the canceled eleventh stage to Bilbao. In the other stages, he has already proven to be one of the best climbers in this Vuelta, although he had to admit defeat to Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida.

Those are the two names that the number three in the GC has to contend with as he enters the third week. The team is therefore taking a realistic view of what lies ahead. “There are now two races. There is one for the Vuelta win between Vingegaard and Almeida, and there is one for the podium with Tom, Hindley and Gall and possibly with Pellizzari, Riccitello and Kuss,” explains Head of Racing Alex Sans Vega on the team website.

“The gaps are still relatively small between those guys now.,” the Spaniard continues. “hey have roughly the same time trial skills so I think that it will be tight until Bola del Mundo. The weather here can also play a role, so we keep a close eye on that,” he says.

Nevertheless, the Swiss team knows exactly what it has to do in the remaining stages. “or us it’s important to now continue doing what we do and that is to support Tom as good as we can. That is by going in the break, and by staying around him to get him in the best position for the important points.”

The vibe is good within Q36.5. “I think the vibes are good although you can see the accumulated fatigue on their faces ,” Sans Vega admits. “But hat’s normal after two weeks. I think we can all be very proud of where we are as a team now.”

In addition to Pidcock's second place on day nine, the team also came close to a stage victory with Fabio Christen. The Swiss rider finished seventh in the stage to Voiron and also came seventh in Zaragoza. “It’s been a good race until now. I love the crowds on the side of the road,” said the Swiss rider.

“That helped on the long climbs we had this week because I didn’t feel as strong as week one. This week was all about surviving for me. I am now looking forward to the rest day and hopefully there will be some chances for me in the third week,” Christen concluded.