Juan AYUSO. 10 with honors. He doesn't hear the voices around him, doesn't hear the criticisms, doesn't hear the constant chatter, today he doesn't even hear the chain: from hell to paradise in Cerler in twenty-four hours. Pure ecstasy. First victory on the Vuelta roads, the 15th in his career, the 76th for his team, which today scores a fantastic "triple", winning for the third consecutive day. Not a novelty: Ayuso is a talented rider, with absolute awareness. He knows his worth, especially knows what he wants and generally goes and gets it. Like today. The Valencian rider is a class rider, on this I believe no one can say anything. He's a thoroughbred and after such a day, he immediately tries to create conditions not only to put everything behind him, but to erase everything. And they're off, and he's immediately in the breakaway. The first mountain point of the day - Port Cantò - is his. He takes the day's breakaway, then less than 9 km from the finish he opens the gas and they'll see him on the podium: it's a beautiful sight.

Marco FRIGO. 9. The small great Italy brings home another prestigious placement. A result that clearly says we're here, we're here to fight, to show what we're made of and we're certainly not fragile cookies, but delicious cantucci to dip in vin santo. A race of great intelligence, because Marco knows how to race. He says he has good legs and a confused head, for what the Israel guys have to endure every day on the roads. Cycling is not an easy sport, and if politics makes everything difficult, even a beautiful sport like ours becomes impossible.

Raul GARCIA. 8. The 24-year-old Spaniard from Arkea spends the day in the group of 12 attackers. A sumptuous race, confirming that these guys, this team, deserve to move forward.

Harold TEDAJA. 7.5. The 28-year-old Colombian from XDS Astana keeps everyone's honor high. He attacks and then plays on the counterattack with commitment and determination.

Giulio CICCONE. 7.5. Joao Almeida attacks and he's ready to mark him, just like Vingegaard. The "three tenors" seem the most in tune at the moment, Giulio is clearly in top form. No need for glasses, it's visible to the naked eye.

Giulio PELLIZZARI. 7. He doesn't show off, stays tucked in with the best and keeps the white jersey on his shoulders.

Antonio TIBERI. 4. He drifts away, accumulating a sidereal delay of almost a quarter of an hour. It's clear something's not right. It's clear this is not the Tiberi we're used to knowing. Yesterday a sign of recovery, today the abyss.

Mads PEDERSEN. 10. He does a mountain stage in the breakaway - and not at tourist speed - to win the intermediate sprint points placed maliciously in Benasque, at the foot of the final climb to Cerler, less than 9 kilometers from the finish. For 20 points, he does numbers like a true champion.

Mikel LANDA. 5. He takes on water at every stage, it's not just a leak, but a structural collapse of the entire hull.

Jonas VINGEGAARD. 6.5. He doesn't waste a single pedal stroke, puts his nose out when he needs to. He races by the book, like in traditional cycling, the one we're used to seeing when there are no Pogacar, Evenepoel and Van der Poel. "We could have raced, if we had wanted to, but this is fine," says the Dane.

Torstein TRAEEN. 7. He keeps the jersey, quite easily, with excellent teamwork and personality. He had said: tomorrow I'll lose it. He was wrong.

Sean QUINN. 8. The EF Education EasyPost rider goes with Jardi van der Lee, with them Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Damien Howson (Q36.5), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto), Marco Frigo (Israel-PremierTech) and clearly Juan Ayuso, whom everyone follows. These guys, basically, are racing.