Bilbao. Wednesday’s 11th stage of Vuelta and Espana cycling races did not have a winner. The final spurt was prevented by Palestinian demonstrators.
The organizers therefore decided to shorten the stage by three kilometers without the winner. Vuelta will continue on Thursday 12th stage Laredo – Los Corrales de Buélna with a length of 143 km.
Wednesday’s hilly stage with a length of 157.4 km consisted of a circuit with a start and finish in Bilbau.
Even before her start, Belgian Ramses Debruyne from Alpecenin-Deuninck and Frenchman Paul Orselin from Cofidis resigned. Cyclists completed a total of seven climb.
Three points for the first top bonus was won by the home Spaniard Joel Nicolau. After that, Nicolau with Pedersen, who had an approximately 30-second peloton lead. Pedersen gradually became independent at the forefront and scored a full number of points on the second climber bonus.
Later, Soler and Aular reached for Danish and this group gradually created an almost one -minute lead. This trio divided the points on the third mountain bonus (Balcon de Bizkaia), with three points scoring Soler, who later fully scored on the climb Morga.
About 60 km before the finish, the whole peloton was formed for the first time during the stage, which absorbed the group around Soler.
Mikel Lauda (Soudal Quick-Step) won five points behind the El Vivero mountain, which also won a sprint bonus.
After Ben Tulett scored five points behind the El Vivero mountain premium, the organizers informed that the stage would not have the winner.
The reason was the riots caused by Palestinian demonstrators in the destination. The cyclists prevented the final spurt and the organizers shortened the stage by three kilometers without determining the winner and gaining bonification seconds.
The last climb of Pike was directed by Thomas Pidcock. The referees ended the race on the motorway section without the presence of viewers.
Dan Jonas Vingegaard of the Visma Lease and Bike team entered the 11th stage in the position of the leader of the overall ranking and believed in the 3th stage triumph in the ongoing year.
“We went to the victory. My son celebrates his 1st birthday today and I wanted to win for him very much. It’s a pity for me personally. I believed that I would get a chance for another victory today, but it didn’t. The police did a great job,” Vingegaard said.
Victor Campenaerts from Team Visma was not happy about the stage without the winner: “We learned about her neutralization before the last climb. We all knew what we were. It was uncomfortable for us, since we worked hard all day.”
