The top two riders in the Vuelta a Espana went toe-to-toe on stage 13, one of the toughest stages of this year’s race, with Joao Almeida holding off race leader Jonas Vingegaard for victory.
The Portuguese’s maiden win at the Vuelta was a sixth of the race for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and his second at a grand tour after winning a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2023.
He led from the bottom of the mythical L’Angliru climb, setting a fierce pace that distanced all of his rivals bar Vingegaard, and managed to eke out a small gap on the final brief descent to the line.
“This is a special one. I still don’t believe it,” Almeida said on TV once he had recovered from his exertions. “Thanks to my teammates, they were key today. They did an amazing stage. I just put my pace from the bottom, and I just did the best I could.”
“Jonas was always on my wheel, the last kilometre I was on the limit, I guess we were both on the limit. I was waiting for his attack any time. I thought he was going to pass me at the finish line, I knew it quite well from two years ago and I took the first corner first and then it’s hard to pass.
“It was an amazing day. I think it’s the hardest climb in the world, it’s crazy. Oof, I’m very sore.”
Stage 13 was the second-longest of this edition at nearly 203km, with just shy of 4,000m of elevation gain across three categorised climbs, finishing on the hors-categorie L’Angliru.
The 12.4km climb averages 9.7% but hits highs of 24% and was famously branded “inhuman” by Scottish cyclist David Millar, who objected to its inclusion in the Vuelta so much that he got off his bike and abandoned the race at its summit in 2002.
There was no such drama today but Almeida and Vingegaard cemented their status as the overwhelming favourites for victory, with the Portuguese rider taking back four seconds on his rival in bonuses on the line.
He now sits 46 seconds off the red jersey in second place, while Tom Pidcock remains in third overall despite losing time. The Briton is now 2’18” off Vingegaard’s lead.
Asked whether this gave him more confidence in his title tilt, Almeida said: “I have a lot of time to make up to Jonas. He’s looking phenomenal, it’s going to be hard, but we’ll never give up.”
Australian Jai Hindley, a former Giro d’Italia champion, was the main winner of the general classification reshuffle in the Asturian mountains, moving up four places to fourth in the standings at 3’00”.
Stage 13 was always likely to come down to a general classification battle, with an early break whittled down over the tough terrain and the final trio of Bob Jungels, Jefferson Cepeda, and Nicolas Vinokurov reeled in on the lower slopes of the brutal final climb.
The three escapees were briefly held up by a pro-Palestinian protest blocking the road, in scenes which have dogged the Vuelta so far, before security managed to clear the way.
Saturday’s stage 14 is another outing in the Asturias, shorter than stage 13 at 135.9 km but packing in more than 3,800m of climbing on the route from Avilés to La Farrapona, with another summit finish.
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