Joao ALMEIDA. 10 and praise. He doesn't hide, doesn't let others do, but does it himself. He puts himself in leader mode and does so to the end, with Vingegaard on his wheel. He imposes a far from relaxing pace, with the Dane clinging to his back. In the end he wins, because it couldn't be otherwise: he does a lot, does almost everything and winning is the right epilogue. The Vuelta is not over and the Portuguese remains there just a handful of seconds away, ready to play his cards until the end, and Almeida will do just that.

Jonas VINGEGAARD. 7. You expect a Dane charging forward, ready to make his mark, especially because he would want a victory to give to little Hugo. But Almeida puts him on the ropes and in the end he too makes virtue of necessity.

Jay HINDLEY. 7.5. The 29-year-old Australian confirms his form. He knows those two are from another galaxy, but he's not from the third world.

Sepp KUSS. 7.5. He does the dirty work, but he also knows how to clean up behind him: he arrives nice and easy.

Felix GALL. 7.5. If we were in Duracell, I would take him as a testimonial: always consistent, always on point, never running out of energy.

Giulio PELLIZZARI. 8. The boy is here and we know it well. Especially he knows it, who has a sense of responsibility and service, but also has a good dose of ambition. The boy will make it, even if he has narrow shoulders, this other year he will fight...

Tom PIDCOCK. 5.5. Not bad, but not great either. He tries, but on those ramps there's not much to do. You have to shift to low gear and continue without thinking where you are, now he's a bit more distant from those two in front and Hindley is approaching threateningly behind him.

Matthew RICCITELLO. 6.5. Good performance, worthy of a rider with great ambitions who is so far having a great Vuelta.

Giulio CICCONE. 6. Fights like a gladiator, on dizzying slopes, without losing control, without losing his head.

Egan BERNAL. 5. The Colombian always puts his heart into it, but in this Vuelta you need good legs.