General Classification Vuelta a Espana 2025 Stage 18 | João Almeida closes gap to Jonas Vingegaard as Tom Pidcock strengthens grip on podium

The stage 18 time trial didn't turn out to be quite as decisive as some had expected at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, largely due to the route being shortened to just over 12km due to a lingering threat of protests. Nevertheless, as Filippo Ganna powered to the stage win, there were some differences among the general classification contenders.

Most notably, right at the top of the standings, João Almeida closed the gap to the Red Jersey of Jonas Vingegaard by 10 seconds. That means, heading into the final weekend of the 2025 La Vuelta, the Portuguese leader of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, is just 40 seconds behind in the rankings, his race-leading rival from Team Visma | Lease a Bike. 

Behind, Tom Pidcock strengthened his grip on the third step of the podium, gaining a couple of seconds on Jai Hindley and a relatively sizeable 17 seconds on Giulio Pellizzari. In terms of the GC standings, the British multi-discipline star enters stage 19 with a buffer of 39 seconds on Hindley and 1:40 on Pellizzari in the race for the podium.

It was another strong day for Matthew Riccitello, who gained time on Felix Gall in the time trial, usurping the Austrian to move up to 6th overall at 5:17 off the Red Jersey. Closing out the top 10 then are Sepp Kuss (7:26), Torstein Traeen (7:42) and Matteo Jorgenson, making it a trio of Visma riders at the top of the standings, 10:19 down on his team leader Jonas Vingegaard.