"The riders in his wheel benefited from his work" - Visma DS on Jonas Vingegaard's first mountainous race of 2025
Cycling
Team Visma | Lease a Bike came to the Volta ao Algarve with the likes of Sepp Kuss, Wilco Kelderman and Wout van Aert backing up Jonas Vingegaard, but on the summit finish to the Alto da Fóia neither were able to play a key role. The Dane wasn't able to execute his tactics as hoped, and the team DS laments that Visma was put under such pressure on the final ascent.
The run-up to the penultimate climb was furious and left the peloton blown to pieces. Visma had a mishap with van Aert, but Sepp Kuss' absence from the front group as the peloton thinned down was evident. Wilco Kelderman was present but struggling with the pace, whilst Ben Tulett followed the winning move of the Jan Christen group but later cracked and couldn't contribute to the chase of the leading group.
This left Visma with no-one to assist Jonas Vingegaard in the case, with a large gap to the group where Christen would eventually ride away to victory. Vingegaard, doing his first in-race climbing effort since August, attacked the GC group with 1.5 kilometers to go, but with no-one collaborating, he had to keep the pace high himself.
This work eventually favoured João Almeida who had a teammate in the front group, and was able to follow Vingegaard until he decided to launch his own attack and gain 10 seconds on the road - plus 6 seconds in bonifications - over the final 500 meters. This is a gap that can decide the race.
“Tactically, we raced well today. Ben [Tulett] was in the attack on the final climb, but unfortunately, he had to let go," DS Arthur van Dongen said in a press release issued by the team. "Vingegaard then put in a big effort at the front of the favorites’ group and almost single-handedly closed the thirty-second gap".
"In the end, the riders in his wheel benefited from his work, which is who cycling works," he accepts. Over the coming flat days it's hard to imagine there will be differences to be created, and the GC will be decided in the 19-kilometer time-trial that ends atop the Alto do Malhão.
Vingegaard sits 16 seconds behind João Almeida, 20 behind Jan Christen and only 3 ahead of Primoz Roglic who continues to be a big danger. "We’re looking ahead to the coming days—everything is still possible in the fight for the overall victory," van Dongen concluded.
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🇵🇹 #VoltaAoAlgarve
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) February 20, 2025
P6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/EetW9x35Sc
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
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