Emirates had Ganna(s) and set fire again
The first of three match points ultimately fell to Jonas Vingegaard. In the penultimate mountain stage of the Vuelta a España, before the Valladolid time trial, the Dane from Visma-Lease a Bike was one of the day's winners, despite finishing fourth. Finishing at Alto de El Morredero, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) attacked in the final kilometers and crossed the finish line alone, ahead of Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull), thus securing the first victory of his professional career. Vingegaard and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) admitted they weren't in the best shape and finished close behind, with the two-time Tour de France winner gaining two seconds on his main rival.
Wednesday's stage was marked by yet another disastrous collective performance by Emirates. Despite not having placed anyone in the day's breakaway, they let Visma work for almost the entire stage and, at the end of the stage, left the Portuguese rider alone at the entrance to the final climb, against four members of the bees. The work—or lack thereof—of Juan Ayuso, Jay Vine, and Marc Soler was once again questioned. Interestingly, the disarray of the team led by Matxin extended off the road, with the team sharing a post on social media after the stage stating that the Portuguese rider's goal was to finish on the podium and that this goal was close to being achieved. Criticism began to pour in, and the message was deleted and replaced with a more generic one: "The Portuguese rider held on to second place overall before the decisive stages."
Shortly after, Emirates took the opportunity to dedicate an entire post to Bota Lume. "In the eye of the Vuelta storm, João refused to blink. He is, above all, a fighter. Battling his opponents and the grueling slopes, João Almeida gave another demonstration of determination in stage 17. The battle has begun and we are well positioned!" the team wrote, accompanying the message with four images of the bib number.
In the eye of the Vuelta storm, João refused to blink. He is a fighter above all else ✊???? #LaVuelta25
Battling against both his opponents and the punishing gradients, @JooAlmeida98 produced another display of determination on stage 17.
The battle is on, and we're well in the… pic.twitter.com/bcnGnyII2C
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) September 10, 2025
“It wasn't perfect, but these days pass. There was a strong headwind, and no one wanted to expend more energy than the others. That's why no one was attacking. I'm a little upset, like everyone else. I'm just tired, like everyone else. The first part [of the climb] was quite difficult. It was very difficult. The second part was very windy. No one wanted to expend more energy than the others. I prefer not to respond to attacks, but to set my own pace, because it's more comfortable for me. Beat Vingegaard? I don't have a magic bullet, so I don't know. Better in the Tour time trial? What happened last time doesn't give us any guarantees. I have to have strong legs tomorrow [Thursday],” said the athlete from A dos Francos at the end of the stage.
"To be honest, I think I suffered more before the last climb than on the last one. I think the pace was very high, and yes, it was a very difficult day. I was hoping to win today [Wednesday], but I didn't. Gaining two seconds in the overall classification is obviously better than nothing. I don't think anyone was able to spare themselves. It was a difficult day for everyone, and tomorrow is the time trial. A 50-second advantage? It depends on how good I am in the time trial. If I have a good time trial, I think 50 seconds should be enough. But yes, if I have a bad day tomorrow, I could lose more than 50 seconds," Vingegaard retorted, at a time when he still didn't know what lay ahead.
????♂️ Good morning from Valladolid! Time trial day again, individual this time. Who is your favorite? ????
⏱️ Good morning from Valladolid! Individual time trial day at #LaVuelta25 . Favorites? ???? pic.twitter.com/btvBAOwMGe
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 11, 2025
As has been typical of this Vuelta, the concentration of pro-Palestine protests against the participation of Israel-Premier Tech led the organizers, the day before, to reduce the time trial from 27.2 kilometers to just 12.2 kilometers to ensure cyclists' safety. Even so, the start and finish locations remained unchanged, even though the route change proved unfavorable for the specialists in their battle against the clock. This change also complicated the mission of João Almeida, who, until this Thursday, had finished ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in four of the seven time trials in which the two faced each other, the last of which was in the Tour de France, in which the Portuguese rider gained seven seconds on the Dane.
It didn't take long to see one of the fastest times of the time trial, with former world champion and hour record holder Filippo Ganna coming close to subbing the 13-minute mark (13:00.89), overtaking Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) for first place. Shortly after, Ivo Oliveira threatened the Italian's time, despite not showing strong performances at the intermediate points. Even so, the Portuguese Emirates rider finished just ten seconds behind Pippo, placing him in second place. The Portuguese rider managed to hold his position against the threat of Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Kelland O'Brien (Jayco AlUla), who were 11 and 14 seconds behind Ganna. Jay Vine (Emirates) still threatened at the second intermediate point, but finished just nine-tenths of a second behind the Italian, taking second place from his teammate. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) did 9.9 seconds faster and took Ivo Oliveira off the podium.
⏱️ 1⃣3⃣:0⃣0⃣
⚡️ New best team: Mr. Filippo Ganna
???? Good luck, new best time at the goal! @INEOSGrenadiers #LaVuelta25 pic.twitter.com/eASOsDrY4K
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 11, 2025
With all riders already on the road, João Almeida trailed the fastest time by just 58 hundredths of a second at intermediate point 1, a stage in which he gained just under two seconds on Jonas Vingegaard. At kilometer eight, the Portuguese rider trailed Vine by seven seconds, but still had a three-second lead over the red jersey. At the finish line, Bota Lume maintained his level of form and finished third, 7.57 seconds behind Filippo Ganna, who secured the victory with an exceptional time. Vingegaard finished 18 seconds behind the Italian, losing ten seconds to Almeida. Emirates thus placed three riders in the stage's top five, with Ivo Oliveira finishing fifth.
⏱️ Thank you @lavuelta !
Almeida cuts 10 seconds to Vingegaard and Ganna se lleva la victoria en la counterreloj de Valladolid.
????????♂️ You have seen it on @Eurosport_ES and @StreamMaxES . #LaVuelta25 pic.twitter.com/2nhuvr2KCt
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 11, 2025
In the overall standings, the gap between Vingegaard and Almeida is now 40 seconds, with just three stages remaining in the Vuelta. Pidcock had a crucial day consolidating his podium position, now holding a 39-second lead over Hindley (2.39 minutes to 3.18). Pellizzari completes the top five, 4.19 seconds behind, with Matthew Riccitello (Israel) moving up to sixth place, swapping with Felix Gall (Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale). The two are separated by just three seconds: 5.17 to 5.20.
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