Jonas Vingegaard finds himself in pole position as the race rolls into its decisive final week. He’s pleased to be wearing the red jersey, that’s clear. But one nagging thought remains: he wishes his lead over João Almeida was much bigger. “Sure, I’d love to have more than 48 seconds,” the Danish rider from Team Visma admitted. “But this is the gap I’ve earned. I really want to keep this jersey all the way to Madrid.” He’s still thinking about that one stage where Almeida managed to pull ahead.
Overall, Vingegaard feels good about his performance so far. He’s snatched two stage victories and spent several days in the coveted red leader’s jersey. Still, he openly talks about one specific regret. “There’s one thing I’d change: winning on Angliru,” he explained. “But there’s nothing I can do about that now.” The Team Visma cyclist knows the road ahead won’t be easy; this final week promises to be extremely tough.
In a recent display, Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida crossed the finish line side-by-side at the end of the 15th stage. They were a fair distance behind the day’s main breakaway group, more than 13 minutes back. That day saw Mads Pedersen, riding for Lidl, shine brightly among the escapees.