As expected, the Spanish cycling race, the Vuelta a Espana, did not end properly. Earlier, the route of three stages had to be changed or shortened due to pro-Palestinian protests, but on Sunday, demonstrators simply flooded downtown Madrid, and stage 21 had to be canceled 60 kilometers before the finish. So the final results were announced based on the previous results, with Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard becoming the winner.
When the field set off on Sunday afternoon for the final, 21st, 103.6-kilometer stage of the Vuelta a Espana between Alalpardo and Madrid, reports from the Spanish capital had already emerged that demonstrators were gathering to protest the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team.
El recorrido, invadido. Los manifestantes, rumbo a Cibeles, donde estaba prevista la entrega de premios#LaVuelta
— MARCA (@marca) September 14, 2025
Then they not only gathered, but also prevented the final stage from taking place, so the Danish Jonas Vingegaard was declared the overall winner without stage 21.
As if cursed
The world's third-largest three-week cycling race (after the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia) was marred this year by four stages - the fifth, eleventh, sixteenth and eighteenth - disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who wanted to have the Israel-Premier Tech team banned from the race.
The routes of the stages in question had to be diverted, and the length of stage 18, which was a time trial in Valladolid, had to be halved for safety reasons.
On Sunday, the police and the Guardia Civil, or gendarmerie, were unable to maintain order, so at 6:38 p.m. the organizers announced that stage 21 had to be canceled, while the field was languishing 60 kilometers from Madrid, the finish line, waiting for developments.
Meanwhile, protesters clashed with police in Madrid several times.
🇵🇸Así están las cosas a 200 metros de la línea de meta.
Tenemos cambio en el recorrido.
Polideportivo (@MarcaTMF)
September 14, 2025
A crowd gathered at the finish line, it would have been too dangerous to allow the race.
Tension en La Vuelta
— MARCA Polideportivo (@MarcaTMF) September 14, 2025
The protest erupts on the road in the last 200 meters of the circuit
The riders of the Israel-Premier Tech team tried to draw out the venom of the issue by sticking the word Israel on their jerseys, but that didn't help either. The attitude of the Spanish public is quite pro-Palestinian due to the bloody events in Gaza, according to a recent survey, 78 percent of the Spanish population supports the recognition of the Palestinian state.
