Hundreds of policemen mobiilized to protect La Vuelta peloton during stage 18 time-trial

One of the marking aspects of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana is the continuous action of anti-Israel protestors throughout the race ever since it has entered Spain, but as the team did not leave the race, these face no end and also see increasing risks as the race progresses. This Thursday on stage 18, the riders will face an individual time-trial in the city off Valladolid where the risks will be immense and there will be an additional deployment of police to try and ensure the safety of riders.

In an interview with EFE agency, Jacinto Canales - a state official for the city - has intel that organized attacks on the race are once again expected. The city of Valladolid has a population of around 300.000, similar to that of Bilbao where one week ago protestor tried breaking through the barriers at the finish line, forcing race organizers to neutralize the finale as it was not possible to ensure safety of the riders. Ever since, even though the team has removed the word Israel from its equipment, no changes have been seen as on stage 15 there were again two incidents that required attention from the authorities.

"We have indications that wider actions are being organized beyond the usual placing of flags outside the route," Canales indicated. But the specific worry comes from the fact that unlike sports arenas, in road cycling which takes place on open roads, it's simply impossible to guarantee safety for the riders. "You have to bear in mind that this is a 27-kilometre event where we can't have a police officer standing every ten meters".

This Sunday, one of the incidents involved a protestors jumping out from the woods where he was hiding from police, stumbling and falling next to the breakaway riders. The combined movement of his and a policeman that ran towards him caused swerving in the group which led to the crash of Javier Romo, which sparked once again a major clash of opinions on social media. At the finish line, there were again attempts to break through the barriers, which were contained and then secured with police reinforcements and an extra set of barriers.

The Vuelta has its own set of police forces following the race featuring around 200 members but for the time-trial this is not deemed enough, and in Valladolid there will be an extra contingent of 400 personnel to try and avoid any major incident.

"The problem is not that the race is stopped but that there is some kind of accident, that a rider or Guardia Civil motorbike rider or organization vehicle crashes, or that somebody who moves onto the route gets run over by a vehicle," he concluded.