What next for the Vuelta a España podium finishers? – Philippa York analysis

Eat, sleep, race. Repeat for three weeks. That's the simplistic summary of any Grand Tour, and once the race is underway, then what is happening on the other side of the barriers becomes – at least for the riders – a blur happening in the background.

Disruptions are rare but occasionally there's a local protest or nature intervenes with some catastrophic event, or, the most common one, the closed level crossing interrupts proceedings. Whatever the disturbance, it's a momentary blip, and the race soon returns to its detachment from the outside world, isolated but at the same time protected.

Only when that protection is breached does everyone wake up to the fragility of the interaction between the bike race and the people watching. Alasdair Fotheringham's account of the scenes in Madrid tell a graphic story of the politics of the Vuelta a España and the effects on all who are part of the little world that moves around with the race.

But outside of the disruptions that have dominated the headlines at the end of the race, we still had three weeks of GC racing to decide the final podium – even if it did have to be celebrated on ice boxes in a car park.

What next for the Vuelta top three?

Protests aside, the Vuelta finished as expected with the top favourite Jonas Vingegaard adding Spain's national tour to his palmares. Perhaps less convincingly than everyone predicted in terms of the time gaps, but more importantly, he took three stages along the way in varied circumstances.

Outsprinting Giulio Ciccone uphill on stage 2, an opportunist attack on a climb known for being non-selective on stage 9, and victory on the final mountaintop finish all prove that he's progressed in his race craft without losing any of his innate abilities. Only his time trial was, for him, below par, but there have been mentions of slight illness so all in all a solid ride by the Dane.

He was also ably supported by a Visma-Lease a Bike squad that may have been outgunned by UAE Team Emirates-XRG on certain stages, but ultimately showed they were strong enough collectively to ensure their leader had the protection he needed.

A big part of that was that Vingegaard was always in the right place at the right time, no lapses in concentration, no hesitations when he had to attack, and he showed the patience and experience to make the correct decisions on the road.

With the confidence of this victory in the bag, the logical next step is to add the only Grand Tour missing from his win sheet, the Giro d'Italia, to his programme, though that would require him and the team to almost accept that Tadej Pogačar in his current form is unbeatable at the Tour. Selling that idea to a rider of Vingegaard’s stature would be a very difficult task.  

João Almeida came as close as he ever has to the top step of a Grand Tour podium, however, there are still a few things he needs to improve if he is to realise that goal.

His aggression and climbing ability aren't in question, if anything I'd say over the three weeks of racing, his physical strength was the best I've seen of him yet. There were no days when he fell apart despite being left with no teammates too often when he really shouldn't have been.

His best day was the spectacular climb of l'Angliru. Even Vingegaard must have been impressed by that performance, because it's rare that a team leader commits to riding such a challenging ascent from the bottom to the top flat out. Pogačar and Vingegaard are the only two who would and could do such a thing.

However, Almeida may have the power, but he hasn't quite mastered the level of vigilance for the whole race. He got caught out a few times with his positioning when, if he had been concentrating fully, he would have been better able to respond to Vingegaard's attacks, such as on stage 9. They were only small lapses, but he paid for them dearly, and they probably added to the nervous stress he was under within UAE. He's mentally tough and physically strong, but there are hints that, just occasionally, emotions begin to show in an unhelpful way, and that is something he may need to learn to control.

If he smooths out the rough edges, he certainly has the capacity to win a Grand Tour. That said, after watching the less-than-stellar camaraderie of the UAE squad at this Vuelta, I do wonder if he's in the right environment to do so.

Tom Pidcock is in an entirely different place from the one João Almeida finds himself in. The switch from Ineos Grenadiers to Q36.5 seemed like a step down when it was announced last winter. However, whilst it may have meant a theoretical reduction in his race program, it has provided something that looks much more important to him: freedom. Not necessarily from the expectations and stresses of competition, but with the freedom to explore his abilities, Pidcock is being allowed to discover how far his talents stretch.

Coming to the start of the Vuelta a top 10 on GC was the stated goal, but there was a feeling that a top six was probably the real aim. Finishing on the podium seemed unlikely, and yet after three weeks here he is: third behind only Vingegaard and Almeida, and in front of former Giro winner Jai Hindley, despite the Australian's best attempts to topple Pidcock in the final week.

He now faces a dilemma: does he continue with the diversification of his career between road, cyclo-cross and mountain bike, or does he commit to being a GC rider totally? The latter is a commitment which has fewer choices, less fun, more restrictions and an almost total dedication to one type of riding, so it won't be an easy decision to make, especially for a rider who has always revelled in the variety.

Thankfully, still only 26, Tom Pidcock still has more than a few years to play with, but if he does choose the GC route, then he has shown he has the talent.

Stepping up next year to being one of the overall contenders at the Tour de France will depend on a couple of things. Firstly, an invite from ASO for his team, and secondly, accepting that, in order to be more comfortable on the longer climbs, he may have to forego some one-day racing. For someone with the explosive ability that Pidcock has, that might be a tricky but worthwhile compromise. Whatever went wrong at Ineos for Pidcock, the environment at Q36.5 has clearly fixed it.