Many European cultures have a saying that translates as “Never two without three…and the fourth will follow”. Torstein Træen took it on board today at La Vuelta a España, as he kept hold of the leader’s jersey he first donned on Thursday.
The Norwegian defended his lead on Stage 9 (Alfaro – Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray) and goes into the first rest day at the top of the General Classification by 37 seconds from Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) and 1’15” ahead of João Almeida (UAE). Vingegaard showed his strength with a powerful attack on the last climb towards the Valdezcaray ski resort, about 10 km from the finish, where he triumphed solo to take his second victory at this year’s edition of the final Grand Tour of the season.
Træen showed plenty of grit and determination, refusing to surrender on a very demanding day. The 195 km included more than 3,200 metres of elevation gain and rolling terrain throughout, made even tougher at times by heavy rain. The 30 year old climber battled to finish inside the top 20, 1’46” behind Vingegaard.
This means that the TBV rider will start La Vuelta’s second week wearing red, when the race resumes on Tuesday:
“Today we managed pretty well,” he said after crossing the line. “The team did a super job controlling the breakaway. On the final climb I was in a really good position, and the boys did great work. The Visma guys went full gas almost from the bottom, and I was struggling like a dog to hang on. In the last kilometre I had a bit of help from Visma to close the gap, and I finished in the main GC group. I can say I managed well on what wasn’t my best day. Let’s see how it goes day by day. Hopefully I’ll have some better days next week. For now, I’m just looking forward to my burger for dinner tonight.”
Lead Sports Director Franco Pellizotti and the whole team celebrated one more day in red, after a hectic effort to keep Torstein in the leader’s jersey:
“First goal achieved, even if with some fatigue. Torstein was super today. He managed the final climb very well, and we succeeded in defending the leader’s jersey. It wasn’t easy, because the start and the first part of the stage were very demanding. The boys rode strongly, and we can be more than happy to finish the first week of La Vuelta like this, with the red jersey on our shoulders.”
