No winner for Vuelta stage 11 after pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt finish line

BILBAO, Spain - There was no winner on stage 11 of the “Vuelta a Espana” on Sept 3, after organisers ordered the race to finish 3km from the line due to pro-Palestinian protesters causing disruption at the finish in Bilbao.

“Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at three kilometres before the line,” was the announcement made by the race director on Radio Vuelta.

“We won’t have a stage winner. We will give the points for the mountain classification and the intermediate sprint, but not on the finish line.”

Disruptions began early when the race was stopped in the neutral zone after protesters carrying a banner gathered on the road before they were ushered to the side by police.

Late on, protesters pulled a banner across the road in front of the peloton, but they got past without any problems, and all along the race route there was a mixture of Basque and Palestinian flags.

Basque Minister of Security Bingen Zupiria told reporters that three people were arrested, another five identified, and that four members of the regional police were injured during the protests.

The 157.4km stage which began and ended in Bilbao was into the final 20km when the announcement came, while the main general classification riders were battling it out ahead of the peloton.

Race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) broke away from their rivals in the final kilometres to come to the premature finish first.

Vingegaard moved further clear in the GC and has a 50-second lead over Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) while Pidcock moved into third spot, a further six seconds back, with one-time leader Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious) dropping to fourth.

Pidcock made his move on the final climb, Alto de Pike, and Vingegaard was the only rider able to go with him, leaving Almeida, who began the day third overall and 38 seconds off the leader, trailing.

After the peloton foiled any early breaks, a 12-man group which included most of the GC contenders left the peloton behind close to the summit of El Vivero, 24km from the finish line.

The race had already passed through the finishing stretch earlier in the stage, and it was clear that police were struggling to contain the hundreds of Palestinian flag-waving protesters.

“We went through the finish line, we saw them already there kind of on the road, I think the police kept them off there,” Vingegaard said.

“There was one time when they tried to block us on the second last climb but we just went through.”

There was a surreal end to the race, with Vingegaard and Pidcock unsure of where exactly the new finish line was.

“It’s hard to describe the disappointment to be honest,” Pidcock said.

“I felt like today was my day. I feel like there should always be a finish line.”

The Briton also had a message for the protesters.

“Putting us in danger isn’t going to help your cause,” he said.

Vingegaard was also disappointed, with the Dane having a special reason to go for the stage win.

“It’s my son’s birthday, he’s one year old today so I wanted to win for him,” Vingegaard said.

“We worked all day for it and to not get the chance is obviously a big shame.”

Before the stage, the Professional Cyclists’ Association (CPA) had called for better security at the Vuelta after a number of incidents involving protesters had already brought concern over rider safety, with the Israel-Premier Tech team the main target.

There were incidents on stage 10 on Sept 2 which caused a rider to crash and also during stage five’s team time trial when the Israel-Premier Tech team were stopped on the road by a group of protesters holding Palestinian flags. REUTERS