"Almeida begged Pidcock to pull more" – Chris Horner analyses the UAE–Vingegaard battle at La Vuelta after Stage 9 controversy

Jonas Vingegaard’s audacious victory on Stage 9 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana left rivals reeling, but for former Grand Tour winner Chris Horner, the story of the day wasn’t just the Dane’s brilliance – it was João Almeida’s desperate, isolated chase and the tactical mess left behind by UAE Team Emirates - XRG.

“Almeida was yelling at Pidcock, asking if he had the balls to pull,” Horner said in his latest Butterfly Effect analysis. “That tells you everything about how much work he was left to do on his own.”

With 13 km to go, Lidl–Trek had set a furious tempo through Mads Pedersen and Carlos Verona, but it was Jorgenson who truly ripped the race apart. His attack on the lower slopes forced an immediate response from Vingegaard, who latched on. Giulio Ciccone tried to follow but was left straining, and Almeida could not match the acceleration.

From there the script flipped. Instead of a cagey climb, Vingegaard took control. With 10 km left, he dropped Ciccone and went solo, carving out a lead that yo-yoed between 10 and 30 seconds. Behind, Almeida tried desperately to keep the gap close, riding like a man possessed. “The diesel engine was fully on,” Horner said. “But it was all Almeida. No one helped.”

Tom Pidcock and Felix Gall sat in the wheels while Almeida dragged them up the mountain. Only inside the final 7 km did Pidcock finally contribute, after Almeida shouted at him in frustration. “That moment summed it up,” Horner reflected. “Almeida begging Pidcock to pull, when he’d already done 80–90% of the work himself.”

As Almeida towed the chasers, Vingegaard powered ahead, his lead stretching to 32 seconds at the line. Behind, UAE’s weakness was laid bare. Soler came in further back, Ayuso was dropped before the climb even began, and Vine – the rider who should have been Almeida’s mountain lieutenant – had nothing left.

Horner was scathing: “How much energy did Vine’s stage win cost him? How much did Ayuso waste chasing his? If UAE had managed them better, Almeida wouldn’t have been alone against Vingegaard.”

“The plan wasn’t for him to attack,” Horner noted of Vingegaard’s own post-stage comments. “He said his legs felt amazing, asked the team to light it up, and then he just went. If you’re the best climber in the world, you attack where it’s steepest. That’s what he did.”

Torstein Traeen (Bahrain - Victorious) clung onto red by half a minute, but the hierarchy is shifting. Vingegaard’s attack was not in the script, yet it confirmed what many already suspected – when he decides to go, no one can follow.

For UAE, the controversy will linger. Stage 9 exposed not just Almeida’s vulnerability but also a strategic failure. Horner’s verdict was blunt: “They were knuckleheads. Winning two stages early cost them when it really mattered.”

As the race heads into its second week, Vingegaard is on the march, Almeida is battling alone, and UAE’s early celebrations already look like a costly miscalculation.