Vingegaard on Almeida and Ayuso; and having Tom Pidcock as GC adversary - "I see him as one of the big rivals for the GC here"

Jonas Vingegaard is once again in the lead of the Vuelta a Espana. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider kept his powder dry on stage 10 to Larra Belagua, but simply following his adversaries was enough to go through Torstein Traeen in the overall classification and back into the race lead.

“I’m now in the red jersey and hopefully I can keep it until Madrid. At least I hope the legs are good enough that we can keep it for the rest of the race," Vingegaard said in a press conference following the stage.

In the final ascent of the day João Almeida launched two attacks, but the Dane always looked in control, and with Matteo Jorgenson's presence in the front group, the pressure wasn't too high either. He finished the day on the podium next to Miguel Indurain. "Standing next to Induráin on the podium is very exciting. He’s a big idol in cycling, a big legend, so being on the podium with him is very special.”

He was asked about the Juan Ayuso situation, but Vingegaard did not have any major comment on the situation: “I mean, for sure it makes it easier for me that I only have to follow one guy from the same team, so they can’t try to attack me over and over again. It’s more that I have to follow Almeida from UAE and a few other guys from other teams. It makes it a bit easier for me.”

On Tom Pidcock, who continues to ride a formidable Vuelta, Vingegaard doesn't dare to underestimate him. “To be honest, he doesn’t surprise me. Tom is a super good rider, and that he’s up there just shows how good a rider he is. I see him as one of the big rivals for the GC here.”

The peloton is heading towards the Basque Country this Wednesday for a very explosive stage, a day with short and steep climbs that present a different challenge from what we've had so far.

“It’s a hard stage. It can be a very brutal stage. It could be both ways, to be honest: it could be a breakaway, it could be a GC day. It’s a lot of small but very steep climbs so it’s a typical Basque stage. We have the mindset that we don’t underestimate the stage," he concluded.