"UAE had two leaders, now one of them has lost 12 minutes - That’s good for us" - Jonas Vingegaard happy to see rivals weakened by Juan Ayuso's Vuelta explosion

Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) relinquished the Red Jersey on Stage 6 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, but the double Tour de France winner took the development in his stride. The stage, which ended atop the Alto de Pal in Andorra, saw a breakaway succeed in carrying both Jay Vine to the stage win and Torstein Traeen into the overall lead, yet Vingegaard remains unperturbed about his position in the general classification.

“I think it’s okay,” the Danish star told his home nation's reporters TV2 after crossing the finish line. “It was a bit difficult to take time on our rivals today. We tried, and of course we lost the leader’s jersey, but we weren’t really riding to defend it, so it was fine for us.”

The Danish leader and his Visma squad had no intention of chasing down the breakaway on what was the first truly mountainous stage to Pal. Instead, the team conserved energy, knowing the high mountains and longer climbs to come would offer better opportunities to assert control over the race.

Despite losing the red jersey, Vingegaard sees a silver lining. With Juan Ayuso struggling on the final 9.6-kilometre ascent and dropping 11 minutes and 51 seconds, UAE Team Emirates is now effectively down to a single GC threat in João Almeida. “Today was a good day, because UAE had two leaders going into it, and now one of them has lost 12 minutes, so that’s actually good for us,” he said, highlighting the reshaped power dynamics within the GC battle.

Vingegaard was able to match Almeida’s late attack, finishing in a group of 12 with other GC contenders including Giulio Ciccone and Egan Bernal. “I felt okay on the bike,” he added. “The team and I are confident I’ll get stronger as the Vuelta progresses.”

By the end of the day, Traeen had moved into the red jersey with a 2:33 advantage over Vingegaard. While the Danish rider has ceded the leader’s jersey, his measured approach and the fall of key rivals suggest that Visma remains well-placed to influence the race in the mountains ahead.