DISCUSSION Vuelta a España Stage 20 | What could have Joao Almeida done different to beat Jonas Vingegaard?

The penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España was a decisive day for the final GC. It featured five categorized climbs and a final ascent to the fearsome Bola del Mundo (12.3km at 9%), and it was the last chance for Joao Almeida to attack Jonas Vingegaard.

The day started uphill, with the ascent to Alto de la Escondida (9km at 4%). That became a battleground in which plenty of attacks kept going as half of the peloton wanted to be in the break of the day. Ineos was the most active team, with almost the whole squad in the front positions.

It was in the descent when a big group went clear and the breakaway of the day was finally established. It was formed by around 35 riders, with the main names being Mikel Landa, Antonio Tiberi, Giulio Ciccone, Mads Pedersen, Bruno Armirail, Egan Bernal, Lorenzo Fortunato and Santiago Buitrago.

Even if the group was huge and there was collaboration amongst the members, UAE took control of the peloton and never allowed the gap to go beyond the 2-minute mark. They also received support from Red Bull Bora, which made the task much easier for them and almost impossible for the men in front.

The break kept losing members as kilometres passed by, until just five remained after the penultimate climb of the day: Landa, Bernal, Ciccone, Armirail and van der Lee. While they were approaching Bola del Mundo, demonstrators struck again and blocked the road.

Luckily, no crashes occurred, and the police managed to open a hole for riders to continue racing, although team cars had to stop for a while. After that, the race entered the ascent to Bola del Mundo, in which UAE set a hard pace again to prepare Almeida’s attack.

Felix Grosschartner and Jay Vine did a perfect job for the Portuguese, catching the break in the process, and Almeida attacked in the steepest section inside the final 3km. However, he didn’t have the legs to make the difference, and it was Hindley who started pulling in the thin group of favourites in hopes of dropping Pidcock.

That didn’t work out either, and it had to be Jonas Vingegaard who attacked inside the final kilometre, going solo and securing both his third win of this edition and the red jersey. Almeida, Hindley, Pidcock and Kuss arrived all together, so the podium remained the same. Riccitello arrived a bit later but he stole the white jersey, as Pellizzari cracked and lost more than 2 minutes.

Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

For a while it seemed as if new protests would rob us of the climax of a great Vuelta. In the end, however, cycling was still allowed to triumph. None other than Jonas Vingegaard himself won the Vuelta – by winning on the Bola del Mundo.

At the foot of the mountain it still looked as though Almeida might put him under real pressure, but the better time trialist had to bow to the better climber. Other climbers also had to give way. With this, Visma won two of the three Grand Tours this season and thus defeated by far the richest team in the world, UAE.

In itself that is a small miracle, but when you have Vingegaard in your ranks, much becomes possible. With this winner the question can also be raised why the Giro and the Vuelta cannot stand on the same level as the Tour de France.

The reason is simple: teams and riders are free to choose what they ride. If there were an obligation – as in other sports – to contest at least two of the three, this could give cycling, and especially the Vuelta, a lasting boost. Now this boost had to come from a single rider who decided to take part.

And he deserves it: Jonas Vingegaard, the rightful winner of the Vuelta, especially when you consider that he had to concede time in both time trials. That means he managed to make up that time elsewhere, and faster.

For me, he remains a great rider despite the heavy criticism he often faces from purists. The Bola del Mundo once again proved that he is cut from the wood of a champion. Neither his wife, nor his children, nor all the sharks swimming outside Danish waters can change that. That is Vingegaard’s achievement – and that achievement belongs to no one else.

Just like the whole race left a bittersweet taste in mouth, the final GC showdown on Bola del Mundo was not enough to save the race. Ruined by political side, the 2025 Vuelta will go down as one not worth remembering. The overwhelming favourite Jonas Vingegaard did not arrive to Spain in his best shape, haunted by illness he even showed weaknesses, but ultimately he won two summit finishes and secured the overall victory without much of an issue.

The promised big raid of Joao Almeida on Bola del Mundo didn't come and I think he was more than happy to have a sufficient advantage over Pidcock and Hindley who at times looked strongest of all the GC riders in the third week.

The most impressive perfromance today was probably that of Jay Vine who not only pulled a large portion of the final climb, but then also finished 7th himself. A deserved winner of the mountain classification. The main victim of Bola del Mundo is Giulio Pellizzari who lost his White jersey as well as a top-5 result in the GC. The 4th and 6th places certainly don't reflect RB Bora's strong race.

On the other hand Tom Pidcock concluded perfect three weeks, gaining time on terrain that benefitted him and limiting losses on the longest ascents - he did not give Hindley much of hope to steal his podium spot despite being put way over the limit on Bola del Mundo. The only thing missing in Pidcock's Vuelta is a stage victory he was denied by protestors in Bilbao...

Well, that was the last chance for João Almeida to become a winner on this Vuelta and he missed it. But this is no reason at all to lower his head, he should be very proud for the fight he gave Jonas Vingegaard, who is the 2nd best GC rider of this generation. With any other kind of opponents, we could be talking about João as the GC winner and i believe we will see him winning a Grand Tour soon enough (maybe already in 2026).

This time we have to give it to Jonas, he was the best overall and he never cracked when João was setting that suffocating pace during the 3 weeks of the Vuelta. João's style is about consistent pace and less explosion, which probably made it easier for Jonas to hang on, while Pogacar's explosive style means that when he attacks he can always drop Jonas based on raw strenght for 1/2 minutes and then just steadily pace himself towards the finish lines.

João simply does not have this extra boost, it is not his style. But this is still one race to remember and i'm sure in Portugal everyone is very proud of his performance.

A spectacular stage to close a 2025 Vuelta a España marked by controversy. Jonas Vingegaard was the strongest on paper and confirmed this by winning at Bola del Mundo. João Almeida gave it his all but was unable to beat the Dane.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe pushed hard all day to keep a top-level breakaway with Egan Bernal, Santiago Buitrago, and Harold Martín López to less than two minutes. The last two to be caught were Mikel Landa and Giulio Ciccone, who were caught 3 kilometers from the finish line.

Vingegaard was very impressive and Jai Hindley performed at a very high level, but he couldn't shake off Tom Pidcock, who will be on the podium. Almeida went from strength to strength and Sepp Kuss from weakness to strength. Matthew Riccitello finished with the best and snatched the Top 5 overall and the white jersey from Giulio Pellizzari at the last chance.

Finally, hats off to the Caja Rural - Seguros RGA riders, Abel Balderstone and Jaume Guardeño, who will finish as the two best Spaniards in the final general classification, in the first edition in the history of the Vuelta a España to end without any Spaniards in the Top 10. Close behind them will be Mikel Landa, who has had back problems but has not given up and has come close to winning a stage on more than one occasion.

We cannot criticize UAE as a team today. The whole squad was there to support Almeida and they worked the whole day. They had a clear strategy and everyone followed it, setting the stage for Almeida to finish the work. He couldn’t do it just because he didn’t have the legs to beat Vingegaard. Still, I don’t think he should be disappointed, as he kept things much closer than what most of us would have expected.

Jonas Vingegaard can only be beaten by one man in the world in a three week race, but that man is in Canada. Even if he was clearly not at his best at the Vuelta – he has even been sick these past days as Sepp Kuss revealed – he couldn’t be defeated. He raised some doubts just because he didn’t display the level of dominance we were expecting, but ultimately he was never actually in trouble. If the race had some interest, it is just because he barely attacked in the previous stages, so he couldn’t build a comfortable lead, keeping Almeida alive until the last day.

Almeida never dropped him despite trying several times, and Vingegaard just followed his wheel every time that happened. Today I think Almeida was much more cooked by the high pace imposed by his teammates throughout the whole stage than Vingegaard, and he paid the price in the decisive ascent. I was expecting him to attack much earlier, because recovering 45 seconds off Vingegaard in less than 3km is pretty much a chimera.

Tom Pidcock did it! The Briton finished in the podium of a Grand Tour, quite an achievement for someone that is not a pure climber. Despite having a couple of bad days, he bounced back and matched Hindley’s level in an impressive way. He could have had his stage victory too, which would have been the finishing touch. Too bad the organizers cancelled the stage winner in Bilbao…

Hindley tried to steal the third spot but wasn’t even close, it was a great effort regardless. His teammate Pellizzari cracked the worst day and lost the white jersey. Such a pity after a hell of a race, in which he worked a lot for Hindley and even got a stage win for himself. Riccitello also did a great race, outperforming important contenders such as Felix Gall, who will be his teammate next year.