It was announced with 15 km to go that there would be no stage winner in Bilbao.
Photo credit: Sporza/Daniel Friebe
There will be no winner of the Vuelta a España’s stage 11 due to huge protests against Israel-Premier Tech and the Gaza war at the finish line in Bilbao.
GC times were taken with 3 km to go and in an unusual change for neutralised stages, riders did not even go through the finish line as the day’s racing was hugely impacted by protestors in a Basque Country where there is huge support for Palestine.
Vingegaard and Pidcock gain time but Vuelta organizers halt stage 11 due to protests
GC times are taken 3 km from the finish in Bilbao.
“Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to calculate the time 3 kilometers before the finish line,” the Vuelta a España’s race director announced over race radio. “There will be no stage winner. We will award points for the mountain classification and the intermediate sprint, but not at the finish line.”
At the start of Wednesday’s stage, The Cycling Podcast’s Daniel Friebe reported that at a meeting team representatives, race organisers and the CPA riders’ union, “several teams have registered their preference for Israel-Premier Tech to pull out, given increased security risks.”
