Despite Jonas Vingegaard only leading João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by less than a minute heading into the final week of the 2025 Vuelta a España, his Visma-Lease a Bike are unconcerned and focused on the final week of racing.
Just 48 seconds separate Vingegaard and Almeida and the Portuguese rider has emerged as the key contender and Visma's biggest rival after defeating him atop the Alto de Angliru and continuing to impress as other rivals fade away.
Vingegaard gained 30 seconds on Almeida thanks to his stage 9 victory and was expected to regain the red jersey from Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) and extend it as week two raged on before reaching Galicia.
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He achieved one of those goals, with Træen getting dropped on stage 10 to Larra Belagua, but his lead on Almeida has only reached 48 seconds after the second week. Almeida won on the Angliru, with Vingegaard content to stay in his slipstream and follow him over the finish line.
For Visma, the limited time gap is not a concern and all part of the plan.
"Of course, we would have liked to have a bit more of a gap already, but João Almeida is really strong, so for the moment, we are happy with where we are," Visma's Head of Racing, Grischa Niermann, told Cyclingnews after stage 15.
"Jonas is feeling great and everything is going to plan. Once again, we are going into a very hard third week, but we are in the position we wanted to be in, and it will be a big fight until Saturday next week."
Visma is not underestimating Almeida and his UAE support squad, who, between them, have managed to win seven of the 15 stages so far at the Vuelta.
Visma sports director Jesper Mørkøv has noted the equality between the two super teams.
"It's looking good for Jonas, we have a good, strong team around him, but UAE also have a good, strong team around Almeida," Mørkøv told Cyclingnews.
"What we saw on the last two mountain stages is that Almeida and Jonas are really equal on level, so for everybody it's going to be an exciting week coming."
Vingegaard is no stranger to completing two Grand Tours in one season, having raced and finished second at the 2023 Vuelta, after winning his second Tour de France.
Mental focus and physical endurance will be vital to holding off an extremely motivated Almeida in week three.
Niermann certainly knows this but is confident Vingegaard is in the right frame of mind to react accordingly and perform on the crucial 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th stages, where a tough Galician stage, summit finish, individual time trial and one final mountain test to Bola del Mundo will decide the red jersey.
"Focus will be very important, of course. The body also has to react, but a lot of things are also achieved in your mind," said Niermann.
"Being focused and being in the right place will be vital at the end of the Vuelta, and I think Jonas is there."
Key also to Vingegaard reaching Madrid in red and achieving his first Grand Tour win for more than two years will be his team. Positioning in the peloton and climbing support are important but morale plays a key role if six weeks of Grand Tour racing are to be finished with a victory.
"His morale is really great here, he's in a really close group of friends," added fellow Dane Mørkøv, who pointed out how the differing levels of pressure and attention at the Vuelta compared to the Tour have allowed Vingegaard to stay headstrong.
"It's also easier to see in him that the Vuelta is really something else compared to the Tour, with the eye of the media and everything, so he's calm and happy to be racing."
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