Jonas Vingegaard powered to victory on stage nine of the Vuelta a España on Sunday, launching a solo attack on the final climb to Valdezcaray. The two-time Tour de France champion crossed the line 24 seconds ahead of Tom Pidcock and João Almeida, and clawed back nearly two minutes on overall leader Torstein Træen.
The 28-year-old Dane, riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, overcame a mechanical issue earlier in the 195.5km stage from Alfaro. He rejoined the peloton with 75km remaining and later credited his team for setting a fierce pace on the category one ascent to the Valdezcaray ski resort.
“I felt great today, and I felt amazing on the final climb,” Vingegaard said. “I asked them to accelerate, and they did a great job. It was fantastic teamwork, and I’m very happy that I was able to finish it off.”
Træen, who lost contact during the climb, launched a late attack in the final three kilometres to limit his losses. He finished one minute 46 seconds behind Vingegaard but retained the red jersey, leading the general classification by 37 seconds from the Dane.
Earlier in the stage, a five-man breakaway formed around the 70km mark, including Michel Hessmann, Liam Slock, Michal Kwiatkowski, Archie Ryan and Kevin Vermaerke. Heavy rain hit the riders at 120km, and the peloton reeled in the escapees within the final 30km. On the climb, Lidl-Trek tried to set up Giulio Ciccone, but Vingegaard marked the move before attacking with 11km to go.
Almeida sits third overall, one minute 15 seconds behind Træen, with Pidcock fourth a further 20 seconds back. Mads Pedersen retains the green jersey in the points classification. The race resumes after a rest day on Wednesday with a 175.3km stage from Arguedas to El Ferial Larra Belagua.
