The Vuelta a Espana experienced this Tuesday a new episode of interruption, similar to the one that occurred in Bilbao during stage 11. On this occasion, stage 16, which was to end at the Castro de Herville (Galicia), was neutralized 8 kilometers from the finish line due to a protest against the Israeli invasion of Gaza and the presence of the Israel - Premier Tech team in the race.
Demonstrations and confusion in the peloton
The organization decided to stop the competition before the start of the final climb. Although Egan Bernal was declared the winner after a breakaway, the situation generated uncertainty in the peloton.
Joxean Matxín, sport director of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, told RTVE how they received the news in the middle of the descent: "It was basically a copy of the Bilbao stage. When we were starting the last descent, about 14 km from the finish, they told us it was going to finish with 8 km to go. We knew it was before the climb, but we were trying to figure out if it was going to be exactly at the 8km banner or if there would be a line at another point, so there was confusion."
Read also
The epicenter of the protest was located 3.5 km from the finish, near the team bus area. Demonstrators with Palestinian flags demanded the exclusion of the Israeli team.
Matxin acknowledged that they also didn't have precise information about what was happening at the cut-off point: "We don't know what the situation was like up there, they told us that the road was blocked 3 km from the finish line. I don't know why they didn't stop it at 5 km or 7 km, but that's a decision of the organization and we have to respect it, because we're in the race."
The stage had already been marked by an earlier incident: the police removed a log placed on the road, about 30 km from the finish, in what was considered an act of sabotage. Protests against Israel - Premier Tech have been constant throughout the Vuelta, and are expected to continue, especially in Valladolid, where the individual time trial of stage 18 will be contested.
Protests at the Vuelta a España 2025 are ongoing
Sports development
In strictly sporting terms, João Almeida crossed the finish line next to leader Jonas Vingegaard, remaining 48 seconds behind in the general classification.
UAE called Marc Soler back from the breakaway in the final stretch, although Matxin clarified that the maneuver was not in response to an attack attempt by Almeida: "No, we had Marc in front in case we needed him to stop. He couldn't win the stage because he was two minutes behind the leaders. We only had Felix [Grossschartner] with João at the time, so for safety's sake we called Marc back."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment