UAE rule collectively, Vingegaard leads individually

The first stage of La Vuelta 25 held on Spanish soil shook up the overall standings once again, as Jonas Vingegaard regained La Roja thanks to Visma-Lease a Bike’s collective performance in Figueres. However, the Dutch outfit had to settle for second place on the day, finishing 8 seconds behind Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who averaged 56.8 km/h to win the stage. The Spanish and Portuguese stars are now Vingegaard’s closest chasers in the overall standings, alongside their teammate Marc Soler (+8 seconds). Lidl-Trek was the third fastest team on the day, and their Italian leader Giulio Ciccone completes the GC top 5, 9 seconds behind Vingegaard, who claims his 30th Grand Tour leader’s jersey (27 Maillot Jaune, 3 La Roja). Leader at the start of the stage, David Gaudu, finished 9th (+24 seconds) with Groupama-FDJ.After visiting Italy and France, La Vuelta 25 is in Catalunya for stage 5. The Spanish action kicks-off with a 24.1-km team time-trial around Figueres set to shake up the overall standings. The TTT is a classic of La Vuelta, featuring for the 17th time this century on the course of the Spanish Grand Tour.Lotto and Lidl-Trek show the wayLotto are the first off the ramp, at 16:37. And they set a strong benchmark, averaging 55.9 km/h to cover the 24.1 km in 25’35’’. Their time holds off against powerhouses such as Jayco AlUla (+17’’), but they’re beaten by Mads Pedersen and Giulio Ciccone’s Lidl-Trek, who navigate the course at 56.5 km/h and clock a time of 25’35’’.Powered by Filippo Ganna and Egan Bernal, Ineos Grenadiers appear to be flying at the start, putting almost 10’’ into Lidl-Trek’s benchmark at the first checkpoint (km 7.8). But they can’t keep with the increasing pace set by the American squad, who retain the lead 7’’ ahead of the British outfit. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe slot in between the two powerhouses (+3’’), despite Matteo Sobrero suffering a hard tumble.UAE Team Emirates-XRG put the hammer downUAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike also set off strong, with the Emirati outfit only trailing by 0.01 second at the first checkpoint! Jonas Vingegaard’s teammates are 3’’ behind. In the meantime, David Gaudu’s Groupama-FDJ already loses 7’’.

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