Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2025, Stage 13: Cabezón de la Sal – L’Angliru (202.5k)

[Moose McKnuckles]

GPS seemed off the entire climb. I tried to count the seconds between the riders when I could and the gaps always came out smaller than the GPS indicated.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Vingegaard did say that. In fact he even said that he was performing worse than earlier in the Vuelta:

"I think it's just my own legs that were a little less good than they were last week. Hopefully I can recover a bit."

I don't see why he should say this if in fact he could have won the stage. Other things in his statement also contradict the theory that Vingegaard let Almeida win.

Words have meaning, and he did not say that he didn't have the legs to beat Almeda. Thank you for proving my point. I appreciate that.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

They are going to have a painful time trying to pass this guy.

Balderdash !!!!!

 

[AnotherArmChair]

My best/worst Angliru memory is still Horner grinning all the way through the mist while distancing Nibali. You're just not supposed to look so happy on Angliru, almost Jack Torrance-happy.

Grinning???...he looked maniacal like a giant Chucky on a bike
No one wanted him to win as everyone knew a 42 year old does not climb that climb , never sitting down, better than Purito, Bala and Nibali, on bread and water

 

[kingjr]

Grinning???...he looked maniacal like a giant Chucky on a bike
No one wanted him to win as everyone knew a 42 year old does not climb that climb , never sitting down, better than Purito, Bala and Nibali, on bread and water

I did!

 

[JohnWayne]

I’m starting to like this Almeida guy. Despite the steepness/slowness, many would have started flicking elbows and looking around at some point. Today Almeida just kept on grinding. What an effort!

 

[Danskebjerge]

Words have meaning, and he did not say that he didn't have the legs to beat Almeda. Thank you for proving my point. I appreciate that.

Why is it that people are so stubborn when they want to defend their initial "analysis"? I'm not saying your assertion about what theoretically happened on Angliru is wrong, but please don't distort facts.

This is the interview:

"- Why didn't you attack?

I actually think he rode strongly. That's why. He really deserves the victory today. He was probably the strongest today.

- Does it bother you that he was so strong?

I just think my legs weren't quite as good as they were last week. Hopefully, I can recover a little. I believe that, and then things will get better—both tomorrow and next week, says Vingegaard."

 

[Cookster15]

Amazing strength by Almeida to ride on the front the entire climb, congrats to him.

Surprised Jonas didn't dominate this stage but it does show he is human. I think we should take him at his post stage word - Almeida was probably the strongest.

Also nice to finally see a small sign of the Hindley who won the 2022 Giro.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Why is it that people are so stubborn when they want to defend their initial "analysis"? I'm not saying your assertion about what theoretically happened on Angliru is wrong, but please don't distort facts.

This is the interview:

"- Why didn't you attack?

I actually think he rode strongly. That's why. He really deserves the victory today. He was probably the strongest today.

- Does it bother you that he was so strong?

I just think my legs weren't quite as good as they were last week. Hopefully, I can recover a little. I believe that, and then things will get better—both tomorrow and next week, says Vingegaard."

I.m bothered when people ignore expicit words. "probably" means he doesn't know, meaning he didn't try to find out.

He never said that he didn't have the legs to beat him. In fact, he clearly indicated that he didn't know whehter he did or not.

Again, thank you for proving my point.

 

[Rob5091]

Almeida and Vingegaard came home together so not much between them. Kuss and Hindley hung in there so something to kep an eye on. 3rd spot on the podium is still up for grabs.

Spare a thought for The Man to Watch who only recently moved into the GC top 20, but today met his Waterloo. Poor ol' Chumil came in last 41 minutes down to slip to 55th place on GC. Hang in there champ!

 

[KZD]

Tremendous win from Almeida on the most iconic climb in Spain. This truly is the season where he is becoming one of the absolute best riders in the world and showing that this Vuelta is by no means decided. Great work from his non-Spanish teammates.

Expected a bit more from Vingegaard but still defended is lead well. Will need to avoid the off days that had in the Tour because Almeida is only 46 seconds away.

Hindley and Kuss back into a higher level, the former is still in the fight for the podium even though Pidcock defended himself pretty well. Good stage again from young Ritcctello too.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Just watched the stage.
Getting hypnotized by L'Angliru every time.
Just as much as I've always been fascinated about Almeida's 'evil diesel engine'. And when he's not dropping himself in crusial moments and using time on fighting himself back, but on the contrary have supporting riders nursing him, he displays his real level. Just like the exhillaring other day in the rain with lower percentages (now forgot mountain).

In fact I like these these exhausting glooms at least as much as Pogi -, Pistolero - and Purito snake bites. To me it adds suspense, and here to an already hypnotic mountain.

Just wow.

Viva La Vuelta!

 

[Cycling111]

It's that he recognized that Alemda deserved to win, because of his effort, and the fact that Jonas didn't need to win to prove anything to himself or anyone else. Pogacar needs to and does prove to everyone that he is the strongest. It's a mentality that many champions have. Jonas is not that type of rider. Again, I'm not saying that he would have won if he tried, and I certainly don't believe he didn't try because he is a coward. It's possible he just didn't have it to even try, but it didn't look that way to me. It looked to me like a rider who had matched his rival, when his rival just put in the ride of his life, and he didn't see a need to try to beat him today. He's still in red, and the race isn't over, and I don't see any sign that Jonas believes he cannot win. In fact, I think he knows that if he avoids crashing or injury, he will win.

If he doesn't have to prove it, why did he win 3 stages in O Gran Camino?
The other day he sprinted against Pedersen

 

[Hugh Januss]

Tremendous win from Almeida on the most iconic climb in Spain. This truly is the season where he is becoming one of the absolute best riders in the world and showing that this Vuelta is by no means decided. Great work from his non-Spanish teammates.

Expected a bit more from Vingegaard but still defended is lead well. Will need to avoid the off days that had in the Tour because Almeida is only 46 seconds away.

Hindley and Kuss back into a higher level, the former is still in the fight for the podium even though Pidcock defended himself pretty well. Good stage again from young Ritcctello too.

Maybe today was his off day?

 

[Cookster15]

Hindley and Kuss back into a higher level, the former is still in the fight for the podium

Agree. Was wondering what happened to the 2022 Hindley ever since he went to Red Bull - his 2023 TdF exploits were still unconvincing even if he did crash. Hopefully he can continue to ride this well.

In 2022 Hindley was known to get better in the 3rd week. If that repeats a podium is strong possibility for him.

 

[search]

Spare a thought for The Man to Watch who only recently moved into the GC top 20, but today met his Waterloo. Poor ol' Chumil came in last 41 minutes down to slip to 55th place on GC. Hang in there champ!

yeah, he was late to the party, but got the Burgos bug a couple of days ago. They've sent home four riders and a couple of staff members already, all occupying the hotel toilets all night.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Some good riding and great win by Almeida, UAE did they part too, reducing the bunch. Still there are some reserves left and i am not sure if we have seen the full all out attack by Almeida and his team already. At times it felt more like tactics on how to defend status quo and not lose any time today, especially considering a lot of people thought Jonas is going to win this stage.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

If he doesn't have to prove it, why did he win 3 stages in O Gran Camino?
The other day he sprinted against Pedersen

...he's currently wearing the red jersey. In case you don't know what that means, it means he is the leader of the Vuelta...

 

[RobertCrawley]

I agree, I think Joao's strength surprised even Jonas.

To have that much power on that climb on day 13 of a grand tour, Almeida certainly shows he could seriously compete at the TdF. I hope he gets his chance before too long.

 

[Valv.Piti]

If you know Vingegaard, and listen to his Danish interviews (which I know not many people do), you'd know that he's always telling the truth about his sensations. As much as I don't like how he races most of the times, I can appreciate his interviews. Its not the Roglic *** nonsense answers, it's being honest about his condition, and today he told Almeida was just stronger and he lacked the legs and hoped for better tomorrow and in the last week.

Very honest and straightforward dude. I mean obviously, he's from the Northern part of Jutland (like myself!)

 

[RobertCrawley]

If you know Vingegaard, and listen to his Danish interviews (which I know not many people do), you'd know that he's always telling the truth about his sensations. As much as I don't like how he races most of the times, I can appreciate his interviews. Its not the Roglic *** nonsense answers, it's being honest about his condition, and today he told Almeida was just stronger and he lacked the legs and hoped for better tomorrow and in the last week.

Very honest and straightforward dude. I mean obviously, he's from the Northern part of Jutland (like myself!)

I'm a big fan and that's one of the reasons.

 

[Escarabajo]

Ayuso truly struggled today!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1964021143167283445

 

[CyclistAbi]

If you know Vingegaard, and listen to his Danish interviews (which I know not many people do), you'd know that he's always telling the truth about his sensations. As much as I don't like how he races most of the times, I can appreciate his interviews. Its not the Roglic *** nonsense answers, it's being honest about his condition, and today he told Almeida was just stronger and he lacked the legs and hoped for better tomorrow and in the last week.

Very honest and straightforward dude. I mean obviously, he's from the Northern part of Jutland (like myself!)

I prefer Rogličes interviews, short and straight to the punch. I have seen on TV Jonas couldn't beat João so i don't need a lengthy interview Jonas explaining that to me again, being honest.

 

[CyclistAbi]

While we are at honesty, Carlton forgot to mention today, on who started with the attacks on Kuss, Vuelta 2023, he had rather selective memory.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I prefer Rogličes interviews, short and straight to the punch. I have seen on TV Jonas couldn't beat João so i don't need a lengthy interview Jonas explaining that to me again, being honest.

What a surprise you prefer Roglic' complete non-answers to an actual interview.