"UAE were asleep! They let Vingegaard take time for free" – Former Vuelta winner blasts ‘huge mistake’ by João Almeida and team on Stage 19

Jonas Vingegaard snatched four crucial bonus seconds on Stage 19 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, and former race winner Chris Horner has called out João Almeida and UAE Team Emirates - XRG for what he described as a “knucklehead move” that could prove costly in the battle for red.

Speaking on his Butterfly Effect analysis, Horner was scathing about UAE’s positioning in the intermediate sprint in Salamanca, where Team Visma | Lease a Bike surged to the line and Vingegaard opportunistically gained time.

“UAE were asleep,” Horner said. “They let Vingegaard take time for free. With eight riders in the team, you only need one — at least one — to cover him. Instead, Ayuso was sitting at the back, the director must have been napping, and nobody reacted. Vingegaard just looked over his shoulder, rolled across the line, and picked up four seconds. That’s a 10% gain right there.”

The Dane himself admitted the move was opportunistic when speaking to the media afterwards: “We just saw that we were in the front and we said: ‘Why not try?’ If we could get four seconds, then it was worth it. It’s not a lot but I’m still in the lead and I’m happy with it.”

Vingegaard had lost ten seconds to Almeida in Thursday’s short time trial, but the bonus seconds clawed back nearly half of that deficit. Horner was incredulous that UAE allowed it to happen.

“Almeida’s teammates have won seven stages in this Vuelta, but when it comes to riding for their GC leader they’re nowhere. All they had to do was mark Visma in that sprint. Instead, they were caught napping, and Vingegaard took the gift. It was a knucklehead move, plain and simple.”

For Horner, the mistake highlighted a wider pattern: “You only need one rider to get ahead of Vingegaard at the line to nullify the bonus. That’s all. But UAE gave him space, gave him the road, and handed him free time. That’s unacceptable when the margins are this tight.”

While the stage was eventually won by Jasper Philipsen in a bunch sprint, it was the four bonus seconds that may prove all important in the long run, especially in such a tightly fought GC battle. Almeida remains within striking distance, but as Horner pointed out, UAE cannot afford another lapse.

“Four seconds might not sound like much, but at this point in a Grand Tour, it’s gold. Vingegaard turned a sleepy, flat stage into a decisive moment because UAE weren’t paying attention. That’s the kind of error that decides races.”

With the final mountain showdown on Stage 20 and the ceremonial Madrid sprint to come, the Vuelta is finely poised. And thanks to one sharp sprint and one team’s mistake, Jonas Vingegaard holds the cards heading into the decisive weekend.