Vingegaard realizes he got off very well in shortened time trial: "I’m relieved, to be honest"

At Visma | Lease a Bike, they had already concluded after Wednesday’s 17th stage that Vingegaard was no longer in top form. The Dane wanted to win, just like on stage 13 at the Angliru, and had his team work for him, but on the final climb he didn’t have the legs to finish it off. The explosiveness with which he dominated the first week, during which he won two stages, seems to have faded somewhat.

And so, on the last rest day, Vingegaard was already not looking forward to the 27.2 km time trial on stage 18 of the Vuelta. “João is also a very good time trialist and overall a very strong rider. I think I mainly focus on myself and try to do as well as possible, but the time trial doesn’t really suit me,” he said cautiously this past Monday.

In 2023, Vingegaard had already conceded half a minute to Almeida in exactly the same time trial around Valladolid. So he probably didn’t mind too much when the Vuelta organizers cut 15 kilometers from the original course on Wednesday evening to guarantee rider safety.

So Vingegaard lost 10 seconds to Almeida... and he seemed pretty satisfied with that after his ride. “To be honest, I’m quite relieved, yes. It was a completely flat and very fast time trial, and I think that’s not in favor of riders of around 60 kilos, but more the bigger guys. I think I rode a good time trial.”

The time trial was the penultimate test for the GC riders, with one brutal mountain finish still to come on Saturday at the very steep Bola del Mundo. Vingegaard goes into that day with a 40-second lead over Almeida. “I’m happy with my performance and with where I am now. I think the power was really good. I think we can be satisfied with my performance.”

“We’re still in the lead, so I’m happy with how today went,” Vingegaard repeated, while also acknowledging that things could have been a lot tighter on a 27.2 km course. “Maybe the extra length wouldn’t have been in my favor, I don’t know. It would still have been flat, so that might have been even more in João’s favor.”

The cushion is still solid for now, and Vingegaard also stressed that he felt better in the time trial than in recent days. “The legs were there, so I’m happy with how the day turned out.”

The lead is still solid for now, and Vingegaard also emphasized that he felt better in the time trial than in the past few days. “The legs were there, so I’m happy with how the day went.” He also said this during the press conference: “I do actually think my shape is pretty ok. I haven’t been at 100% in the last week, but coming into this race, I was in good shape, and I think the shape is still ok. We will see how it is in the next days.”

Because Vingegaard logically expects attacks on his red jersey, especially from Almeida. “I think everything will be decided now on Bola del Mundo,” the current leader said, referring to Saturday’s stage. “Of course, I would also love to win on Bola del Mundo, but I think now the most important is to try to keep the red jersey. Of course, it will be hard. I expect a lot of attacks in the coming days.”