Zonneveld feels sorry for Almeida after yet another UAE victory: "So far this has cost them the Vuelta"

The team claimed their seventh stage win on La Farrapona with Marc Soler. It’s yet another instance of the team sending someone up the road. “I do think Soler is a better teammate than Ayuso, I don’t want to paint them with the same brush,” says Zonneveld. “But this is classic UAE again. ‘We’re not going to go in the break,’ they said. And then they have two guys in the breakaway and go all in for the stage win.”

UAE has been torn between two strategies throughout the entire Vuelta. “They haven’t used that full train for Almeida even once, and I think he really needs it. And when I see him over the last two days, I honestly think he might actually be better than Vingegaard when it comes to long efforts. So they haven’t fully taken advantage of these opportunities, especially not today.”