After a narrow defeat in the team time trial in Figueres at the Vuelta a España against rivals UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Jonas Vingegaard is looking on the bright side of things, with his return to the red jersey at the top of the list.

On a relatively short and undulating course, the gaps were small, with Vingegaard's team finishing just 7 seconds behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG . A second place finish was enough to put the Dane back in the lead of the general classification, while also confirming that—as expected—the UAE duo of João Almeida and Juan Ayuso represent the most serious threat to the overall standings.

Vingegaard admitted he was unfamiliar with the first summit finish in Andorra on stage 6, which culminates with the double obstacle of the Comella (second category) and the summit finish in Pal, which the Vuelta hasn't tackled since 2010. Despite knowing the final climb only from videos, the number one favorite predicts a tough battle for the overall standings: "I definitely expect a very tough day tomorrow, my rivals will try to attack me," Vingegaard said. "The last 4-5 kilometers are really demanding, there will definitely be a battle among the GC riders."

The Dane hasn't made any commitments about his goal of defending the jersey at all costs. His lead is still less than 10 seconds , and the toughest stages are yet to come, starting with the first high-altitude test on Thursday: "The final goal is Madrid, but it will depend a lot on how the race unfolds in the next stages. Significant gaps have already opened up, reaching 20th-30th place in the standings."