Updated August 29, 2025 05:10PM
‘We Want to Save the Team’: Visma-Lease a Bike Takes a Guarded Approach Thus Far at Vuelta a España
Softly-softly approach shown by Vingegaard and his squad at the Vuelta contrasts with UAE’s all-out tactics
João Almeida put in a big dig on stage 7 of the Vuelta a España, but Jonas Vingegaard wouldn't get drawn into a brawl (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
UAE is going on a rampage in this Vuelta a España, winning stages on three consecutive days, but Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike are taking a notably different approach.
The team did dig deep in the TTT, finishing just eight seconds behind UAE despite being a rider short, but in the mountain stages Thursday and Friday Vingegaard and his teammates showed considerable restraint.
Is it deliberate? It appears it is.
“It was not an easy day. We wanted to still save our energy a bit so we decided not to do anything today,” Vingegaard said after the stage. “It was a hard last climb, but the team did well.”
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There was also a measured approach in evidence on Thursday’s stage to Pal Andorra.
Sure, Vingegaard did throw the hammer down towards the top of the last climb, going clear with Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), but his move didn’t seem to be fully committed.
João Almeida and others came back up to them and they finished in the same time.
Friday was more of the same; Almeida put the foot to the floor at one point in the uphill finale but, once again, the aggression was short lived. Vingegaard could have countered, or cooperated, but he didn’t. Instead the GC favorites finished together once again.
The net result? Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) continues to lead overall. Vingegaard is second, 2:33 back, with Almeida a further 8 seconds back in third.
The latter sounded a little frustrated with Vingegaard after the stage, stating that he wouldn’t help Almeida after he dragged Vingegaard and Ciccone clear with his attack.
“I mean, he didn’t really have to, so I get it, but yeah, it is what it is,” he said. “I think he doesn’t really pull a lot of times, right?”
‘We could have fought for the stage’
UAE wants to draw Vingegaard into a brawl; he’s not taking the bait, at least for now.
Sports director Jesper Mørkøv said things were all going to plan for Visma.
“We were able to save some energy today, as Bahrain Victorious set the pace for much of the stage. In the end, we were well-positioned for the final climb,” he said.
“Jonas responded strongly to an attack by Almeida, and Sepp [Kuss] and Matteo [Jorgenson] also showed they are in good shape.”
So what is the game plan?
Vingegaard appears to be following the same playbook as at the Tour de France. He was up against Tadej Pogačar there, who launched frenzied attack after frenzied attack in the opening half of the race.
Pogačar went on to win the Tour overall but, notably, things were much tighter between the two rivals in the final week.
He is absent from the Vuelta but Vingegaard is taking the same measured approach in the race.
Namely, hold back, conserve, and bank everything on the last week or so of the race.
“I think for sure if we wanted we could have fought for the win,” the double Tour winner stated. “But as I said, we want to save the team also.
“We save it for the second and the third week because there it will be hard enough.”
It sounds like fireworks are on the way, but the fuse is a long and slow-burning one.
UAE will keep swinging haymakers, but is that a winning strategy or a case of rope a dope?
The answer to that question will become more clear in the next week or so.
Ayuso put in the perfect response after a disappointing day on Thursday, going on the attack from early on and ultimately taking the victory
[image or embed]— VELO (@velo-velo-velo.bsky.social) 29 August 2025 at 16:35
