"We have to be ready for the fight" - Jonas Vingegaard back in the lead of the Vuelta a Espana

Team Visma | Lease a Bike took their first stage win at the Vuelta a Espana on stage 2 which carried Jonas Vingegaard to the race lead. On stage 4 he lost the red jersey to David Gaudu, but now the Dane is in the lead of the Spanish Grand Tour heading into the first mountain stage of the race. He will have to battle UAE Team Emirates - XRG's duo in Andorra, after the Dutch team put in a solid team time-trial.

"I think we did very well, but to be honest, we were a bit slower than other teams in the middle section. Maybe we could have gone a bit faster there, we definitely need to look into that," Vingegaard said after the stage, not fully satisfied with the team's performance on the day. Taking into consideration that Visma started the day a man down, after Axel Zingle's withdrawal, it wasn't a realistic prospect to be gaining time on the competition.

Tricky weather conditions also made it difficult to gauge their effort. "But as I said, everyone was very strong today; we can be happy with how everyone rode today. I'm very happy to have the red jersey back; it's a beautiful jersey. I lost it yesterday, but every day in the red is a good day."

Vingegaard will go into stage 6 with 8 seconds of lead over João Almeida, Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler, but it will be the finale that'll suit the Dane best until today. "Tomorrow is the first really tough day, and we have to be ready for the fight," he concluded. Jonas Vingegaard has put in a first few strong days at this year's Vuelta including a sprint victory on the summit finish to Limone, showcasing his strong form after a few weeks of training in Annecy. It will now be seen whether the arrival to the mountains will benefit him, or if other riders will take over the spotlight.