Vingegaard drops his rivals but is surprised by final climb: "Honestly, I didn’t do my homework"

Before the stage, Vingegaard said it wouldn't be his day. The stage wasn't challenging enough, he analysed. But when did he decide it would be his day after all? “The moment I put the team at the front on the final climb,” the winner explains in the flash interview. “I felt great today, and I felt amazing on the final climb. I asked them to accelerate, and they did a great job. It was fantastic teamwork, and I’m very happy that I was able to finish it off. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

It was Matteo Jorgenson who did a fantastic lead-out: after Vingegaard's acceleration, only Giulio Ciccone was able to follow, but the Italian from Lidl-Trek also dropped back later. At that point, it was still a long way to the finish line. “To be honest, I didn't really do my homework, I thought we were closer to the finish,” laughs Vingegaard. “I was surprised when we passed under the bow marking the last 10 kilometers. At that point, I already had the gap, and I had to keep going.”

In the end, Vingegaard gained almost 2 minutes on leader Torstein Traeen, including bonuses, leaving him half a minute short of the red jersey. But that wasn't the goal for the last stage before the rest day. “Not necessarily. I mainly wanted to win the stage and gain time on my closest rivals. To be honest, I don't know whether I'm in the red jersey or not.” He certainly gained time: João Almeida and Tom Pidcock conceded 23 seconds, Ciccone and co 1.46 minutes.

Sports director Grischa Niermann saw the improvisation work out well. 'The plan was to be defensive, we saw a great opportunity for the breakaway. There was a big battle, after which five men rode away. In the end, Trek took control, together with Q36.5. They wanted to go for the stage. Of course, we would also like that if the opportunity arises. Jonas told the guys to accelerate at the foot, because that's where it was steepest. That's where you have to make the gap. It worked, after which he rode a nice time trial to the finish. It wasn't really the climb to make the difference, but he did well.'

The German confirmed that the plan to attack did not come from the team car: it was Vingegaard who gave the order to accelerate, after which Jorgenson took off at full speed. “It was Jonas' idea; he was feeling good. He always has the freedom to tell the guys what to do, especially when the stage win is in sight. He looked excellent.”

Behind them, Visma | Lease a Bike tried to close the gap to the second chasing group, with Sepp Kuss and Ben Tulett helping Torstein Traeen back into the red. Was that the plan? 'It was more about keeping Sepp in the classification; he was behind the chasing group. Of course, we would have preferred to have him in Ciccone and Matteo's group, but that didn't work out. However, it's also good for us that Torstein and Bahrain have the jersey."

With three riders in the top 20 and Vingegaard comfortably in second place, Visma | Lease a Bike ended the first week of the Vuelta in the best possible way: with a stage victory. “It's a nice boost to our confidence, and the hardest days are yet to come. The Vuelta is far from over, but we're in a good position,” concludes Niermann.