Zonneveld sees Almeida trapped in his own team: "They don’t feel any need to sacrifice themselves"

While Vingegaard was launched by his teammates, Almeida had to do most of the work on the final climb on his own. The result: a 24-second loss. In the interview after the finish, the climber noted that he “missed his teammates a little.” Zonneveld also viewed it with suspicion. “It was the same thing we always talk about. And I completely understand how Almeida feels. He doesn't mention any names, but I think you know who he's talking about.”

“Among the riders who had to drop back - right at the foot - was Juan Ayuso,” the former cyclist analyzes. “If they had a tactic in advance, then it was certain that Ayuso would at least catch up. If he was even remotely involved in the plan to win the Vuelta, then these are the days to do it. You can use him very well to widen a gap or to close it.”

After his fantastic stage victory on Friday, the Spaniard vanished into the peloton. On Sunday, he wasn’t at the front, but he wasn’t the only one. ‘Are they trying to win the Vuelta with Almeida? Almeida is trying himself, but who in the team is trying to help him? Vine rode for himself, although he did do a little work at the front today, so he did something.’ However, the same could not be said for other domestiques.

Because Marc Soler also has to pay the price. The experienced Spaniard finished sixth in the ninth stage, but did not do any work at the front for his team leader. “With Soler, I do get the impression that he's not that smart. I think he's mainly focused on his own race and is not good at analyzing what the race needs. You just have to control that guy like a robot, then it works. But if he has to think for himself, it becomes difficult.”

The pattern at UAE is that they don't care much for the designated leader, says Zonneveld. "They don't feel the need to sacrifice themselves for each other in any way. They're just not going to do it. If you look at the rest of UAE: Oliveira and Novak are just not good enough. I don't think Grossschartner is either; he's only halfway there every day. Soler is very good, but he's not where he needs to be. That leaves Almeida on his own very quickly.“

The problem was particularly evident in the first few kilometers of the climb, where Almeida—as is often the case—was not in the best position. At that point, someone should have taken responsibility for pulling him along, says Zonneveld. "Ayuso could have done it, Vine could have done it, Soler could have done it, but nobody does it. These are the signs of a team that is not riding for each other at all. In the Tour, they fought with Pogacar against Visma for every corner, and they did that really well.“

And what if Almeida had been on Vingegaard's wheel? ”Then he would have lost zero time today. I think he could have easily kept up with Vingegaard's attack today. But he's not in position, and Vingegaard saw that. It's a decision that's made in the moment. But I think these are things that are discussed more often at Visma: if Almeida is usually not in position, then they're going to take advantage of that."