"A disgrace for cycling what happened" - Jonas Vingegaard laments how he got Vuelta a España celebration in Madrid cancelled by protests

The 2025 Vuelta a España was one of the most eventful in recent years, however not due to competitive reasons. Jonas Vingegaard was the winner of the overall classification, but it was a secondary story to that of the anti-Israel protests that have shadowed the racing from start to finish. Vingegaard is still rather unhappy with how the race ended and not being able to celebrate his victory in Madrid.

In an interview with TuttoBiciWeb, the Dane described his post-Tour de France period, after finishing second to Tadej Pogacar. First, I went home to Denmark to relax for a nice week, and then I started again. It's only been less than four weeks, and obviously there's not much you can do". The Dane also spent some training training in Annecy ahead of the third Grand Tour of the season, not doing altitude training, but starting the race with good form nevertheless. 

"We knew there were a lot of uphill finishes, and you could really burn out easily. So we chose and worked out our tactics before the race, deciding to focus more on chasing stage wins towards the end. Then, if there had been opportunities, we would have taken them, but we didn't want to squeeze the whole team for the second stage, for example".

A conservative tactic, one that proved successful. With Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss and Victor Campenaerts following him after the Tour, Vingegaard had a luxurious block racing towards his red jersey ambitions. UAE Team Emirates - XRG achieved a lot of success, but most of it stage hunting. But the GC had the biggest gaps on a surprising stage, as Vingegaard attacked all-out the ascent to the Estacion de Valdezcaray on stage 9.

"Then the opportunity presented itself, and I seized it. On days when you feel good, you have to take advantage of it". The climb featured an average gradient of just over 5%, but the Dane seized the element of surprise combined with João Almeida's lack of explosivity to create a gap that wouldn't be closed. This is the gap he carried throughout most of the race from there on, until the Bola del Mundo where he cemented his hold of the race and won again in the final summit finish.

"If I look at that Vuelta from a tactical perspective, the plan at the beginning was to be conservative, but at the same time, after the first rest day, we also had to adapt to the new plan because we had to become aggressive and try to win the stages," he explained. Then he wanted to win stage 11 due to the birthday of his daughter, but the stage ended up being neutralized as protestors tried to force through the barriers and into the peloton, making it a large security risk.

"So already on stage 11 towards Bilbao, I had the whole team in the lead and was still in contention for the win, but then the stage was canceled, and we did it again on stage 13 (up to the Alto de l'Angliru, ed.). I wanted to win and still believed I could, but I had to change strategy midway through the stage to defend rather than attack". This was because Vingegaard became rather ill in the second half of the race, and was only able to follow the attacks of João Almeida.

However Vingegaard's celebrations abruptly came to an anti-climatic end in the outskirts of Madrid, as the news broke that thousands broke through the barriers in the Spanish capital and led the route into uncontrollable chaos. The Dane never made it to Madrid. "In the end, I think it's fair to say that was also a historic celebration. But obviously, it was also a disgrace for cycling what happened," he describes.

"I also remember a few question marks hanging over everyone's heads when we got back to the hotel because it wasn't very clear what was going to happen. I sat at the back of the bus and stayed there for a while," Vingegaard recalls, not knowing what to do in the aftermath of the confirmation of his first Vuelta a España victory.

Then a small celebration in the team's hotel parking lot took place, with the jersey winners and Visma staff, one of the most unusual scenes in professional cycling all year long.

"And then the others arrived and we had a beer together, and suddenly I don't remember who got on the bus and said 'ah, we're working on a party here in the parking lot. We'll try to get everyone together.' And then, yes, everyone finally arrived, and for me personally, it was one of the most memorable podium ceremonies I've ever experienced," he admits.