Jonas Vingegaard and Team Visma-Lease a Bike deliberately chose to relinquish the red jersey during stage six of the Vuelta a España, allowing a 10-rider breakaway to gain a significant lead. Norway's Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious) is the new leader of the general classification with a 2:33 lead.

The Dutch team handled the situation with great tactical clarity throughout the 170km race. With 35km to go, near the Andorran border, the breakaway riders' lead had grown to over six minutes.

Træen and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were the most likely candidates to take the lead, having started 58 seconds and 1:02 behind Vingegaard, respectively. Despite their respect for the two riders, the Visma team was unconcerned about the new gap.

Matteo Jorgenson, Vingegaard's teammate, commented: " We managed the start well, preventing any dangerous riders from joining the breakaway. We're very happy to have relinquished the jersey. We wanted to keep the gap around five minutes. I have great respect for Torstein and Bruno, but I think we have the situation under control regarding the general classification."

The stage also saw a significant tactical development with Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) losing ground, 7:32 behind the favourites.

"Before today, UAE had two captains, now one has lost eight minutes. It was positive for us. Our legs were good, and we can look forward to the final 15 stages with confidence."

With tomorrow's mountains from Andorra la Vella to Cerler, it's not out of the question that Vingegaard could soon reclaim the red jersey, needing to make up just 2:33 on riders not considered a threat to the overall standings.