There was no winner on stage 11 of the Vuelta a España in Bilbao after pro-Palestine protestors disrupted the finish line, with general classification times taken with 3km to go.
It followed a tense day in the Basque Country, as protests dogged the race through the region on Wednesday, with flags, banners, and direct action. The neutralised roll-out had been disrupted earlier by protestors blocking the road, after conversations were reported to be happening between team representatives, the riders' union and race organisers over safety issues.
As a chasing group crossed the finish line for the first time, ahead of a final lap around Bilbao, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was shown slowing the riders down, as protestors threw white paper into the road, and it appeared that some had invaded the finish. Pedersen was awarded third place in the sprint, despite being blocked from third position because of the actions of the activists at the side of the road.
On the Alto del Vivero, the penultimate climb, protestors with a banner ran into the road, forcing riders to swerve.
Riot police were then sent to the finish line, causing the race to change its tack. Images showed the barriers broking down and police using force to push crowds back.
With around 16km to go, the Vuelta's race radio announced that there would be no stage winner.
"Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at 3 kilometres before the line," the race organisers said. "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."
On Tuesday, Intermarché-Wanty's Simone Petilli crashed after protestors ran onto the road, with police unable to hold them back. This led to riders asking fans to stay clear of the peloton and not risk any incidents.
Meetings were held between riders, race organisers, the UCI, and the riders' union the CPA pre-stage 11, with the race continuing, but with the warning that it might stop if protests continued to cause danger.
"It was a conversation between us and the organisation. We, the riders, know that in the last few weeks the organisers have been doing as much as they can – so many police, so many," Lotto's Elia Viviani told Cyclingnews on Wednesday.
"Obviously, if there’s a situation that is dangerous for the peloton, we should decide something. But as the organisation has said, we don’t know what’s going to happen, we’ll see how it goes.
"If it’s all peaceful, then there’s no problem, so the race will proceed normally. We are dependent on that. On our part, if it’s peaceful, then we’ll simply restart. If there are falls, danger and so on, then we’ll decide what we do, because they [the organisers] don’t know what’ll happen."
Protests have been targeted at Israel-Premier Tech, who a Spanish left wing party called to be excluded from the race, but have also been a visible part of most stages of the Vuelta.
Earlier in the race, a group disrupted Israel-Premier Tech's team time trial on stage five. While the team has no official connection to the state of Israel, its owner, Sylvan Adams, has been vocal about his support for the country, of which he is a citizen.
There were also disruptive actions at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this year.
According to the BBC, over 60,000 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel's invasion of Gaza in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks, in which more than 1,200 people died.
On Wednesday, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, warned that Gaza is “becoming the graveyard of international humanitarian law”.
