If Jonas Vingegaard dominated the 9th stage of the Vuelta this Sunday, Torstein Træen was able to keep the red leading jersey. The Norwegian claims to have been helped in this by runners from the Visma-Lease A Bike team.
The 9th stage of the Vuelta was animated. While Jonas Vingegaard flew ten kilometers from the finish in Valdezcaray to prevail alone, João Almeida had to compose with teammates to absent subscribers to defend his chances in the general classification.
In the midst of all this, Torstein Træen has long been lost the red jersey which he adorned at the evening of the 6th stage, won by Jay Vine in Andorra. But racing circumstances made the runner of the Bahrain Victorious team were able to keep the head of the Tour of Spain’s general ranking for the rest day scheduled for Monday.
Arrived in a small group pointed at 1’46 ” by Jonas Vingegaard, the native of Hønefoss saved his first place for 37 small seconds. “At the end of the climb, I told myself that I would not wear the red jersey this (Sunday) evening, so I’m obviously very happy to have received help and have managed to keep it,” he said in comments collected by the official race website.
Træen: “It was mainly a question of surviving”
This external aid came from “two guys from Visma-Lease A Bike”, assures Torstein Træen. Indeed, the Norwegian notably saw Matteo Jorgenson impose the tempo of the group in which he was able to pass the finish line. Which makes him say that keeping the red jersey at the end of this arrival at the top is an event that is all unfortunate. “I had the impression that they might not yet want Jonas Vingegaard wearing the jersey,” he added.
Indeed, in the absence of the leader within its breast, the Visma-Lease A Bike team will not have to carry the weight of the race and squander forces to lead the peloton in certain critical moments. In any case, Torstein Træen did not hide having been surprised by the attitude of the second of the recent Tour de France during this 9th stage. “I did not expect Jonas Vingegaard to be so fast,” he added. He attacked very quickly, and then it was mainly a question of surviving. The arrival at El Feral Larra Belagua on Tuesday could however change the situation.
