A day after what has arguable the biggest news coming out of Spain in the last 2 weeks — nothing to do with the Vuelta, but the announcement that super-talent Juan Ayuso woud be leaving UAE Team Emirates — a mountainous 175.3 km tussle from Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva to the summit of El Ferial Larra Belagua saw Australian Jay Vine win his second stage out of a break. In the GC contest, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease A Bike) held serve against his key rivals while mustering enough of a margin over Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) to don the Red Jersey.
Træen rode valiantly but ultimately relinquished the Red Jersey.
As Vine outclassing his breakmates and Vingegaard easily keeping pace with the other GC contestants are practically commonplace, Monday’s news about Ayuso’s ouster/self-ouster remained cycling’s most discussed topic. What began as a mostly typical, if vaguely critical team press release has devolved into a war of words, with Ayuso deeming UAE Team Emirates “a dictatorship” that is “trying to damage my reputation”.
Bernal ignored the pre-race drama.
On the road, Jonas Vingegaard re-emerged into the red leader’s jersey, his calculated move on the final ascent enough to leapfrog Torstein Træen and command a 26-second advantage in the general classification. While the Dane appeared entirely comfortable on the day’s final climb, his closest GC rival (after Træen), João Almeida, kept his deficit to the lead at a seemingly manageable 38 seconds. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) continues to ride well, and now sits just off of the virtual podium, 58 seconds behind Vingegaard in fourth position.
Jorgenson was caught up in a crash with 40K to go, but still rode valuably later.
Perhaps the Vuelta’s most exciting competition, though, is among young riders, as Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) finished on the same time, evidently shadowing one another throughout the stage.
Vine, meanwhile, seems to have found a winning formula: lose time in order not to threaten the GC competition; toil tirelessly to foster a breakaway — he described getting a break to stick as the hardest part of the stage — until the final climb — then outlast his breakmates. His “Polka Dot” Jersey (We use the quotes because c’mon… Those aren’t polka-dots.) is virtually assured, and may with his stage wins be UAE’s most valued prize coming out of this Vuelta.
Stage 11 Preview
Tomorrow’s route from Logroño to Bilbao offers a classic Basque rollercoaster—over 150 km of relentless climbs and technical descents. Expect a breakaway battle to flourish, but with bonus seconds in play and narrow city streets for the finale, and with Almeida and UAE possibly starting to feel desperate, Vingegaard may be forced to defend the jersey in a nervy finish.
We expect to see Jonas on the podium after Stage 11 and beyond.
Stage Top Ten
Credits courtesy of procyclingstats.com
The post Vuelta’25 St.10: Vine Victorious, Vingegaard Vaults into Red as Ayuso Drama Swirls appeared first on PezCycling News.
