Jonas Vingegaard won a pattern on the eve of the arrival and rushes towards a first coronation on the Tour of Spain

The Danish, who counted 44 seconds ahead of his pursuer Joao Almeida in the morning, recovered still time in the Portuguese and will win his first Vuelta, Sunday evening, in Madrid.

The boss of the Vuelta gave the estocade. On the eve of the arrival in Madrid, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) won at the top during the 20th stage, the last high mountain, between Robledo de Chavela and Bola del Mundo, Saturday September 13. The Danes, who only had 44 seconds ahead of his runner Joao Almeida (UAE-Team Emirates XRG) in the morning, has definitively cleared his opponent in the last kilometer of the final ascent (HC, 12.3 km to 8.6%). He won his third stage victory over this edition, ahead of his teammate Sepp Kuss and Jai Hindley (Red-Bull Bora-Hansgrohe).

Imperturbable, Vingegaard, who now has a 1'16 mattress in advance, will therefore win his first Vuelta first for his second participation on Sunday (he had finished 2nd behind his teammate Sepp Kuss in 2023), his third big round after his two coronations on the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023. “I felt pretty good at the rhythm of Joao, I told myself that I was not at the limit, so I tried to leave and I saw that I made a little gap “welcomed the red jersey, second in the last Tour de France behind Tadej Pogacar.

To validate his success, the leader of Dutch training has, as often on this Vuelta, was in management, loose in the wheel of Almeida, who rolled all day at a sustained pace his men, including the one who will win the jersey of best climber, Jay Vine. The Portuguese then tried to accelerate in the final ramp of the'Alto de Navacerrada, a narrow and not asphalted road from 3.1 km to 12.2% once the Giulio Ciccone-Mikel Landa duo resumed.

But the Danish never stun, before finally leaving alone 1.2 kilometers from the finish to finally win 22 seconds ahead of Almeida, who had to admit defeated. “It was super hard, I was really at the limit of the whole stage. We tried, we had nothing to lose, that's how it is. I was sick this week, it was not the best sensations. No regrets, congratulations to Jonas, he was very strong “recognized the Portuguese at the microphone of Eurosport.

Behind this duel, this 20th stage saw two other lessons: despite the attempts of Jai Hindley, Tom Pidcock held up and will conclude this Tour of Spain on the podium, and Matthew Riccitello, who took advantage of the failure of Giulio Pellizarri, will delight him 5th place and the best young.

This stage was again disturbed for a few moments by demonstrators Propalestinians sitting on the road 17 km from the finish. The first group was able to pass smoothly but the passage of the peloton, on the side of the road, was more eventful and had to require the intervention of security.