Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) was crowned champion of the 2025 Vuelta a España on Sunday, but not in the manner he would have wanted, although certainly in the manner many expected.
Pro-Palestine protesters made their way onto the course as the peloton arrived in Madrid for the closing laps of the Spanish capital, and effectively brought the stage to its knees.
The organisers were forced to stop the stage and then call the stage off altogether, meaning no stage winner for a second time at this race, following the neutralisation of stage 11 in Bilbao.
The general classification times were effectively set in stone anyway, and there was no real jeopardy as Vingegaard rode a special Cervélo and posed for champagne photos with teammates before the stage hit the Spanish capital. But the stoppage of the race officially declared him as the winner of this Vuelta – his first here, and his third Grand Tour in total after two Tour de France titles.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the runner-up at a deficit of 1:16, with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) rounding out the GC podium at 3:11.
Not that there was a podium in Madrid. Given the huge numbers of protestors that continued to block the roads, the decision was taken not to hold the traditional post-race ceremony.
That left an extremely anti-climactic finale for Vingegaard, who instead of being able to soak in his success atop the podium at Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles, was ushered into a car and driven off to his team hotel.
The disappointment will have been shared by the winners of the Vuelta's other classifications, with Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on top in the mountains classification, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in the points classification, Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) in the youth classification, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the teams classification. Likewise the first Grand Tour podium finish for Pidcock came without a literal podium.
How it unfolded
The stage had started out in serene fashion, with the processional nature of the finale once again giving riders the opportunity to pour drinks and pose for photos as they made their way from Alalpardo to Madrid for what should have been a short stage of just over 100km.
However, chances of them completing the customary laps of the Castellana and Gran Via boulevards in Madrid were always slim. After all, this Vuelta has come to be defined by pro-Palestine protest, which has already left one stage without a winner, and two more finish lines hastily redrawn.
Given protests have struck the race in various corners of the country, the visit to its very heart on the final day was never going to be smooth sailing, no matter how many police were drafted in.
And so it proved. The riders had barely arrived in Madrid for the nine finishing laps of the city-centre streets when they were told to stop. At first it was a temporarily halt to proceedings, but as barriers were stormed and protestors flooded onto the race route, it soon became clear there was no option but to make it permanent.
Riders hung around at their team cars with their directors, awaiting information, before being told the Vuelta was done and dusted. Into the cars and off to the hotels they went.
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