Vingegaard proves he's the boss of the Vuelta on insignificant final climb, second stage win in stage 9

After two challenging mountain stages, Saturday was the sprinters' turn, but the fast men couldn't celebrate for long. Because on Sunday, another climbing stage was on the program. The day wasn't tough, but there was an uphill finish to be expected at the top of the Valdezcaray ski station. That climb wasn't challenging, so it looked like it would be a good day for the breakaway riders.

That translated into a frantic first hour of racing. The attacks continued, and it took a long time before anyone managed to escape. In the end, Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), Archie Ryan (EF Education - EasyPost), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Michel Hessmann (Movistar), and Liam Slock (Lotto) were the lucky ones. After a long battle, the five managed to break away, and their lead slowly but surely increased.

3 minutes was the maximum lead halfway through the ninth stage, but Lidl-Trek put their men to work in the peloton. The American team clearly had plans: so far, they had often come close, but a stage victory had yet to be achieved. The finish seemed right up Giulio Ciccone's alley, and so they wanted to go into the rest day feeling good and with a victory.

A slight scare for Jonas Vingegaard had no consequences: the Visma | Lease a Bike leader had to change bikes, but he was quickly back in the peloton. Meanwhile, it had started to rain heavily, and soon it was an absolute downpour. Lidl-Trek got help from Q36.5 in the chase, making it clear that Tom Pidcock also felt confident about winning.

Thanks to the work of the two teams, the breakaway riders realized that their adventure was in vain. At the intermediate sprint, about 30 kilometers from the finish, they still had a minute's lead, but that quickly dwindled. In the end, it was at the foot of the final climb that the last attackers were caught. Carlos Verona set a grueling pace for leader Ciccone, but Vingegaard and his domestiques were right there: he positioned himself on the wheel of his Italian rival.

Visma | Lease a Bike soon took over: Matteo Jorgenson accelerated hard, after which Vingegaard himself attacked. Only Ciccone could keep up: João Almeida let Jay Vine do the work for now. However, Vingegaard did not stay put and dropped Ciccone. The Italian was caught by Almeida, who now had to do the job himself. The chasing group was only about 10 men strong: what a finale!

Only Pidcock and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R) could keep up with the Portuguese rider, who was about 8 seconds behind the solo Dane. Ciccone had returned to the third group, and red jersey wearer Torstein Traeen was quickly losing time: would he lose the lead? Gall couldn't keep up with Almeida's pace, but the tough Pidcock hung on. But Vingegaard - in the pouring rain - continued to pull away. 20 seconds, 30 seconds...

Pidcock and Almeida were no match for the power of the two-time Tour winner. He was unleashed and eventually crossed the finish line with a 24-second lead: Pidcock finished second, ahead of Almeida.