"What on earth are UAE playing at when it comes to looking after their leader?" - Sean Kelly & Adam Blythe highly critical as Vingegaard increases Vuelta lead

Stage 19 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana may have ended with Jasper Philipsen celebrating a third stage victory, but the real talking point was an apparent lapse in concentration from UAE Team Emirates - XRG that allowed Jonas Vingegaard to strengthen his grip on the Red Jersey.

With 58 kilometres remaining, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader accelerated into the intermediate sprint in Salamanca, taking second place behind Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). The result earned him four bonus seconds — a slender margin in isolation, but significant given that João Almeida had clawed back 10 seconds on Vingegaard in Thursday’s time trial. By the finish in Ávila, the Dane’s overall lead stood at 44 seconds.

For TNT Sports’ commentary and analysis team, UAE’s absence was nothing short of bewildering. “UAE are sleeping, they’re nowhere near,” said commentator Rob Hatch. “Where on earth were UAE here?! Vingegaard takes four bonus seconds there and that was a gift. They worked so hard yesterday to get 10 seconds, and they’ve just given four away.”

Former Vuelta winner Sean Kelly was equally blunt, calling the team’s failure to contest the sprint “crazy.” “You can see the way he was just allowed up and there was no UAE rider around at all,” the Irish icon said. “There are certain riders from the UAE team that can sprint quite well — Rui Oliveira, Marc Soler — but they just got caught rotten. They weren’t reading the race at all.”

Adam Blythe went further still, branding the episode “awful” from a tactical standpoint. “They were completely asleep and there’s no excuses for it,” he said. “Bonus seconds were there from the start of the day and not being there or saying they were in a bad position — there’s no excuse for it.”

Former pro Matt Stephens, analysing in the Breakaway studio, offered praise for Vingegaard’s opportunism as much as criticism of UAE’s inaction. “It was sneaky, super smart and massively intelligent from Vingegaard,” Stephens said. “That’s the easiest four seconds you’re ever going to get. I don’t know whether UAE knew it had a time bonus on it, but Visma were attentive and even made sure Matteo Jorgenson picked up third spot. It was absolutely brilliant for them.”

Whether decisive or not, the episode leaves questions hanging over UAE’s management of Almeida’s GC campaign. On a day when most expected little drama before the sprint finish, their failure to react has gifted Vingegaard a buffer that could prove invaluable in Saturday’s decisive mountain showdown.