VIDEO: Hotel guest records La Vuelta detour from hail storm - "The riders actually took the same initiative"
CyclingTuesday, 25 August 2026 at 12:37
Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España was a day that few would've expected. Whilst bad weather was in the forecast, the race ended up being cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions that fell upon the riders.
Peloton rushes to survive hail storm
As the Vuelta peloton began moving into the Pyrenees, the warning signs were clear. The lack of helicopter footage from the race, the difficulties in transmitting signal from the motorbikes and then the intense deluge footage from the finish line hinted at one thing.
But the question was on whether the race would be able to avoid the worst. With Font Romeu being a summit finish, there would be the possibility to carry out the race safely. But not only was the rain over the summit of the first climb intense, but hail began falling.
In the age of social media, fans scattered along the side of the road recorded videos of several instances that were not caught on TV. Riders leaving the road and hiding underneath fan's umbrellas and the sides of buildings were noted...
But as Tadej Pogacar and the peloton moved off road, they found a perfect location to support them: The IGESA Village Club Mont-Louis Les Sorbier. Almost like a sign from above, the riders quickly found a large hotel that ended up bringing some of the year's most unusual footage from a cycling race.
With the race broadcast over, only some photographers captured the minutes that followed inside the hotel. Hundreds of riders and staff hiding from the hail, covered in towels, gathering coffee and warm tea - many of them in couches, staircases...
In an unusual moment of virtually full unanimity, the stage was called off and the actual racing became secondary. In the hours that followed, humorous reviews were left in the hotel, alongside praise from riders and teams themselves over the aid they got indoors.
In one clip captured by a fan at the entrance of the hotel, the peloton is seen moving away from the race route and directly into the parking lot of the hotel, bringing yet another angle at a moment where the race broadcast was unable to show live pictures.
Entrada en el hotel de los ciclistas ayer. Era inviable,y peligroso, seguir compitiendo bajo esas condiciones. (📺 insta https://t.co/tFYMTVkhfm) #LaVuelta26 pic.twitter.com/xFrxt6cRSC
— Iker Gallastegi (antes @ikguallas) (@ikgallas) August 25, 2026
Read also
Could the Vuelta organizers have reacted better?
"'We obviously missed a whole section," Dutch pundit Roxanne Knetemann said in the Het Wiel podcast. "At first, it started raining and there was also some hail. It wasn't immediately that I thought 'oh, this needs to be cancelled'. Then we had nothing for quite a while, and then we saw that it had stopped at the finish with normal hail and normal bad weather. It did become really, really bad weather".
Whilst the weather situation at the finish line was very bad, these extreme weather phenomena are typically temporary. But as it turned out, the riders would not only potentially find this at the finish, but also 15 kilometers away from the predicted end of the stage.
"I don't want to defend the organization now, but... The next image we see is thunderstorms and lightning flashes near the riders. You could also see that there wasn't really anywhere to take shelter".
Riders and race staff sought out protection in any ways possible, some of them also hiding inside team vehicles and vans - as was the case with Wout Van Aert.
The Dutch pundit argues that there was no time, in such a remote location, to quickly adapt and prepare a major shelter for the riders. But in this instance, the riders' actions and pure luck led them to find a perfect location to protect themselves.
"As an organization, you are completely at your wits' end. I do think the organization immediately thought—or at least, I hope so—like 'wow, this is disproportionately bad, so maybe we should stop it, but where do we take the riders then?'"
"I also think they didn't have an escape plan in this situation sooner. They needed some time to organize this. During that same time, the riders actually took the same initiative".
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The Vuelta is an amateur race in every sense, compared to the Tour or Giro, in terms of organization, safety or journalism. The Spanish journalists ask Pogi questions in Spanish and he has a translater beside him??? WTF, if a journalist from any country doesn,'t understand or speak english, the No.1 language in the world (like it or not) than don't be a journalist, be a cook or a teacher or something. As for the canine hyperventilating bytch, I have no comment.PogiSloFans25-08-2026
- no kidding, great call.mij25-08-2026
- sprinters don’t count - what a comment. tell that to a sprinter. they get the majority of the wins throughout the year. who doesn’t watch much cycling? there is more to racing than GTs.mij25-08-2026
- You're BOZO the CLOWN ! That was to easy!frieders325-08-2026
- anytime a very dominant rider is someone willing to take on a leadership role on behalf of the peloton, he’s referred to as a patron. just being the best rider, even by a wide margin, isn’t enough. it has to be someone with a personality that is strong and assertive enough to LEAD. hinault, definitely. armstrong was a patron. everybody hated him and he hated them right back, but he was definitely a leader/tyrant/patron. indurain was a beast and everyone liked him, but NOT a patron.OCexile25-08-2026
- What about Almeida? I know he barely competed this year. His time trial was the best of the rest. For a guy who lack a little on technique showed a lot of power. I'll count on him.
PAULO25-08-2026 - I'm glad no one got hurt. That was wild.DAS24-08-2026
- What's the name they used to call Hinault when he controlled the peloton? The patron? I don't think this is the same thing. Watching that was just crazy.RidesHills24-08-2026
- Did you? Try to be logical. Cycling fans are unlikely to (have) watch(ed) but then they were not the intended audience because they were ALREADY captive. Anyone else had little idea what to expect and was already watching by the time it was too late to realise they might have preferred not to, although, knowing what is popular these days, I doubt many actually reflect or care but just end up continuing to watch. I expect that 10000 will start rising now as anything or discussed tends to do. I can also assure you from observing roadside crowds on climbs that there are huge numbers of spectators who are not actually cycling fans, they just wanna part of it when the circus comes to town. In fact, even in France, the majority along the way are more interested in the caravan than the race and may know 15 riders at best, mostly French.Jumpyjohn24-08-2026
- Tomorrow is clearly a stage to stamp a win to this year's race. Pogi can realistically get a strong foundation lead and it very well could carry all the way to the end. Look what happened at the Tour when he hammered the race early and then almost got to coast to the win. Keep in mind that the riders in this race aren't the caliber of the TDF so...he could have an even better lead.md197524-08-2026
Loading
Write a comment