UAE Team Emirates-XRG claims victory in the team time trial on Stage 5 of the Vuelta a España, putting Jonas Vingegaard back in the leadership in the race's red jersey.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG Triumph in Vuelta a España Team Time Trial
The fifth stage of the Vuelta a España 2025 saw a thrilling team time trial, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG emerging victorious. The 24.1km course around Figueres proved challenging for many teams, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG averaged an impressive 56.8km/h, securing a nine-second lead over Lidl-Trek.
The team's strong performance was led by João Almeida and Juan Ayuso, who finished third-last but managed to pull off a remarkable victory. Jonas Vingegaard, another key team member, regained the overall race lead as a result of the team's effort.
Lidl-Trek finished the team time trial 18 seconds quicker than Lotto, averaging 56.6km/h across the course. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe put up a valiant fight, finishing just three seconds behind Lidl-Trek, with six riders. Q3.65 Pro Cycling finished second, 13 seconds behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
The top five on GC are separated by just nine seconds after stage five. Three of these riders are from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with Jonas Vingegaard moving back into the red jersey. Egan Bernal is 22 seconds behind Vingegaard, while David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) finished 25 seconds behind the winners, UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Visma-Lease a Bike managed to close the gap to UAE Team Emirates-XRG, pulling back to within seven seconds. However, the team had a mixed performance, going close to UAE at the first timecheck, then 13 seconds slower at timing point two, but then seven seconds behind at the finish.
Unfortunately, Matteo Sobrero of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe crashed during the team time trial and was attended to by medics. Despite this setback, the team soldiered on, finishing just three seconds behind Lidl-Trek.
Just 16 seconds separated first from the fifth place team on Wednesday, Ineos Grenadiers. Israel-Premier Tech were slowed by protestors early on in their effort, which took them out of contention.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG managed to turn their effort around in the closing kilometres, while being down to four men. This result secured Jonas Vingegaard the red jersey once again, as the Vuelta a España 2025 continues to heat up.
