It was hardly the stage Jonas Vingegaard had expected for his coronation as winner of La Vuelta a Espana but the Dane did at least manage to celebrate on an improvised podium in a parking lot after pro-Palestine demonstrations ended the race early.
Protesters pulled down barriers and swarmed the course in central Madrid on Sunday, meaning the 21st and final stage was abandoned before the riders could battle it out around the city circuit.
It also meant the usual lavish podium celebrations for the overall winner and various other categories, planned for the Plaza de Cibeles in central Madrid were called off.
Denmark’s Vingegaard was denied his moment to cross the line and looked downcast in the back of his Visma-Lease a Bike team car as riders were told the race could no longer continue.
But there were smiles later as Vingegaard, wearing the red jersey, sprayed sparkling wine from an improvised podium made of white drinks coolers with the numbers one, two and three scrawled on each.
He was joined by overall runner-up Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) of Portugal and Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) for whom this was his first-ever top-three finish in one of the sport’s three Grand Tours, as well as other category winners.
“This is why we love cycling,” said Visma-Lease a Bike on one of their social media posts. “An intimate, well-deserved ceremony for all the winners of this Vuelta a Espana!”
The race had been badly disrupted with several stages over the three weeks being shortened because of protests over the inclusion of the Israel-Premier Tech team and Israel’s continuing military operations in Gaza.