Organisers of the Vuelta a España have moved to ban spectators from the final kilometre of the Grand Tour's penultimate stage on the Bola del Mundo climb.
The announcement follows one of the Grand Tour's most chaotic days in recent times, with pro-Palestine protestors disrupting stage 11 of the race and forcing organisers to neutralise the final 3km.
Protestors have disrupted the race on multiple occasions already this year, including on stage 5 during Israel-Premier Tech's team time trial effort, opposing the squad's continued presence at the race.
However, stage 20's spectator ban follows calls from environmental activists from the Ecologists in Action group to avoid the climb, known officially as Alto de Guarramillas, altogether.
The group believes that the stage 20 finish, along with the crowds, infrastructure, and traffic, will damage the fragile ecosystem of the mountain.
The Bola del Mundo climb, 12.5km at an average gradient of 8.5%, was last used in La Vuelta during the 2012 edition of the race, and first introduced in 2010. Ecologists in Action stated that race organisers failed to follow recommendations when previously visiting the climb and don't believe the race should be allowed to return.
They cited insufficient waste bins, allowing vehicles to drive up Bola del Mundo after the promise that only motorbikes and ambulances would use the road, having advertising banners staked into the ground, and being unable to prevent the crowds from trampling the park's flora as their key reasons.
Keen to find a compromise and avoid further protests at an already heavily-disrupted edition of the race, La Vuelta organisers have announced that spectators will be encouraged to locate themselves on the penultimate Puerto de Navacerrada climb instead.
Those who wish to support from the final climb of the stage will not be allowed past the 1km marker, and are asked to avoid straying from the road and respect the mountain's flora and fauna.
Whether this goes far enough to thwart any potential protests from environmental activists at the race remains to be seen.
