It’s stage six of the Vuelta a España, and the heavy favourite for overall victory has given up the race lead voluntarily, in the hope that it means less demands, less pressure, for at least a couple of days. The plan is to claim it back later in the race, whenever suits, and win in Madrid.
At last year’s Vuelta, Ben O’Connor, then riding for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, took the red jersey from Primož Roglič after winning stage six, and would hold onto the race lead for almost two weeks, not losing it until stage 19, back to Roglič.
Torstein Træen is not Ben O’Connor. This might seem like a simple statement, but it’s not only that they are different people, but that they represent different situations. Træen did not come into this race as a GC hopeful, and while he is a more than able climber, this Vuelta is so relentlessly hard that there should be ample time for Vingegaard and the other GC hopefuls to claw back that time.
After stage six of the 2024 race, O’Connor, who had previously finished in the top 10 at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta, led Roglič by 4:51. After stage six of this year’s race, Træen, who has never finished in the top 10 of a Grand Tour, has 2:33 on Vingegaard.
That’s not to say it’s Vingegaard’s race to lose – or win – just that it was he who was in the overall lead before Thursday, and it was his or his team’s idea to lend it to another. This race could still be won by a handful of riders, from João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), or even one of the breakaway riders themselves, although this seems unlikely. One person it won’t be is Almeida’s teammate Juan Ayuso, who lost over 10 minutes on Thursday.
Lending the jersey this time, however, does not seem like the risky plan that it was 12 months ago after stage six. I’ll be eating my words if Træen becomes the first Norwegian to win the Vuelta in a fortnight’s time.
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