MADRID, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Jonas Vingegaard from Team Visma-Lease-A Bike claimed the ninth stage win of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday with an impressive ride up the first category climb to the Valdezcaray ski station.

The Dane showed he is the strongest climber in the race, with a powerful assent of the final climb to finish 24 seconds ahead of Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates).

Vingegaard remains second overall, 37 seconds behind the Norwegian rider Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious), who dug in to retain the overall leader's red jersey going into the event's first rest day.

Although the 195.5-kilometer stage had only one categorized climb to the Valdezcaray ski station, that didn't mean it was flat, with the riders crossing constantly rolling terrain which looked perfect for a breakaway.

It took around 50 kilometers for a five-rider break to go up the road, but the main peloton with the Lidl-Trek and Q36.5 teams both active at the front, ensuring it didn't go more than three minutes clear before starting to reel it back in, and the break was over before the final ascent.

Vingegaard's teammate Matteo Jorgenson set an infernal pace at the start of the climb to split the peloton, and the Dane was able to then ride away from his pursuers for his second stage win of the race after triumphing in stage 2.

Monday sees the first rest stage of the Vuelta, with the following week seeing several half-mountain stages ahead of the testing climbs in the Picos de Europa. ■