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Cycling was licking its wounds Tuesday and wondering 'where next?' after a chaotic final day of the Vuelta a Espana which saw the concluding stage called off 50 kilometres shy of the capital and the winner crowned in a hotel car park.The three-week stage race, one of the three Grand Tours at the pinnacle of the sport, was repeatedly disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators fired up by the presence in the race of the Israel Premier Tech team.A government spokesman told AFP that 100,000 people had taken part in the final-stage protests, which followed other pro-Palestinian protests during the race.The stage was stopped early. The winner Jonas Vingegaard had to make do with an improvised podium.For the International Cycling Union (UCI), the sport's governing body, and race organisers, the activists highlighted the vulnerability of races, which stretch across long distance and take place on public roads with free access for spectators.Some fear for future races, notably the 2026 Tour de France which begins with three stages on Spanish soil, starting in Barcelona."Let's hope that the conflict in Gaza is resolved by the time the Tour de France comes around," said Vuelta director Javier Guillen on Monday.It is not the first race targeted this year.In May, pro-Palestinian protesters stretched a rope across the road shortly before the finish of the 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia in Naples.In July, a man wearing a T-shirt reading "Israel out of the Tour" disrupted the finish of the 11th stage of the Tour de France in Toulouse.But these were isolated incidents, nowhere near the mass demonstrations in Spain, a country where the Palestinian cause is popular.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has talked of "the genocide in Gaza", even expressed "deep admiration" for the protesters and called for a sporting ban on Israel, a position which incurred the wrath of the UCI on Monday who said it "calls into question Spain's ability to host major international sporting events".There are fears within the peloton, though, that the Vuelta has set a precedent."It's clear for everyone that a cycling race can be used as an effective stage for protests and next time it will only get worse, because someone allowed it to happen and looked the other way," wrote experienced Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski on social media on Sunday evening."It's very bad for cycling that the protesters managed to get what they wanted. We cannot pretend that nothing happened."The Tour de France, the highest profile race in the world, is an obvious target when it next July but the Israel Premier Tech team, 13th in the UCI rankings, is automatically invited to all the most prestigious races on the calendar.It dropped the word 'Israel' from its shirts during the Vuelta for several stages but categorically refused to throw in the towel.Several riders on other squads called for the withdrawal of the team which was created by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, who likes to describe himself as an ambassador for Israel.The race director also suggested that such a withdrawal would help calm the situation while adding that was a decision for the UCI."We alerted the UCI to the situation. They took a position through a statement to keep Israel PT in the race," Guillen said Tuesday.In its statement the UCI expressed its "total disapproval of and deep concern" about the events that marked this year's Vuelta, calling them a "serious violation of the Olympic Charter and the fundamental principles of sport".The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Protests target Israeli team over Gaza conflictPM Pedro Sanchez expresses admiration for protestersPro-Palestinian protests forced the Vuelta a Espana cycle race to be abandoned at its finale on Sunday, with Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard declared winner as police sought to quell demonstrations against an Israeli team's participation.Protesters chanting "they will not pass" overturned metal barriers and occupied the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) route at several points in Madrid as police attempted to push them back."The race is over," said a spokesperson for the organisers, who also cancelled the podium ceremony, leaving Vingegaard celebrating in the back of his team car.Earlier, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed "admiration for the Spanish people mobilising for just causes like Palestine" by protesting during the race.The demonstrations have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over Israel's actions in Gaza. Some riders had threatened to quit last week as routes were blocked, causing some falls.Seven Israeli chess players withdrew from a Spanish tournament starting on Friday after organisers told them they would not be competing under their flag, citing the Gaza conflict and expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.On Sunday in Madrid, more than 1,000 police officers were on duty as cyclists reached the final stage of the 21-day race - the biggest deployment since the Spanish capital hosted the NATO summit three years ago.Police held back a crowd of hundreds bearing placards and waving Palestinian flags for several hours as the cyclists snaked their way through towns and villages towards Madrid.As the riders drew closer to the capital, the demonstrators hurled plastic bottles and traffic cones, upended blue barriers and surged onto the road. Baton-wielding riot police fired smoke bombs to try to disperse them.PM Sanchez has repeatedly clashed with Israel over its war in Gaza, describing it as genocide.Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, last year recognised a Palestinian state, prompting an angry response from Israel, which said it amounted to a "reward for terrorism".This week, Sanchez announced a block on oil and arms to Israel. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his Spanish counterpart of antisemitism and making genocidal threats.It is the first time one of cycling's Grand Tours has been prevented from completing its final stage by political demonstrators since the Vuelta in 1978 was halted by Basque separatists in San Sebastian.Health Minister Monica Garcia said the latest protests showed Spain was a "global beacon in the defence of human rights.""The people of Madrid join dozens of demonstrations across the country and peacefully bring to a halt the end of a cycling race that should never have been used to whitewash genocide," Garcia said in a post on Bluesky.A government source defended Sanchez's comments, saying: "The prime minister has shown his admiration for the Spanish people for being brave when others look the other way from the genocide in Gaza."

Australian Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) went for broke five kilometres from the summit finish to win stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana Tuesday, repeating his stage six victory, while race favourite Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the leader’s red jersey.Vine caught and overtook Spain’s Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) on the climb to the finish of the 175.3km ride from Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva to El Ferial Larra Belagua, raising two fingers as he crossed the line after his second individual stage win of this year’s race.The 29-year-old – mountains classification winner last year and this year’s leader of the category – also won two stages in 2022.“Winning is so, so hard, and it’s such an incredible feeling when it happens,” Vine said.“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to winning, because it’s just unbelievably hard.”Castrillo held on to take second spot, 35 seconds behind Vine, with the Spaniard’s compatriot and teammate Javier Romo finishing third.Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) had lost the red jersey to Norway’s Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious) after stage six, but having begun Tuesday’s stage 37 seconds off the lead, he opened a gap to Traeen on the final climb to move 26 seconds ahead in the general classification.Following Monday’s rest day, Tuesday’s stage was a mostly flat ride, with one category three climb along the way before the category one finish, and any early breaks had all been quashed by the peloton.A group, which eventually included 30 riders, made the decisive break 72km from the end, and they were allowed to get away, though the leading group was whittled down as the race wore on.There were attacks from the breakaway, with Romo trying to get away, but when Castrillo made his move with seven kilometres remaining, the Spaniard looked set for victory, but Vine reacted and powered past the leader for another stage win.The riders in the strung out peloton were never going to contest the stage win, but the GC battle commenced on the final climb and Vingegaard, who had already closed the gap to Traeen by winning the previous stage, returned to where everyone expected the Dane to be.Vingegaard was part of a small group which began passing some of the breakaway riders towards the finish, and his 11th-place finish on the stage brings an end to Traeen’s time in the red jersey.

Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the overall lead of the Vuelta a Espana on the fifth-stage team time-trial Wednesday, while Team UAE riders Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida climbed to second and third in the standings.As the 21-day race arrived in Spain after four stages in Italy and France, the leaderboard was reshuffled with the three race favourites moving to the top of the deck.Team UAE won the 24.1km stage around Figueres in 25min and 26sec, with Vingegard’s Visma just eight seconds off the pace and Giulio Ciccone’s Lidl-Trek a further second slower in third on the day.The result leaves two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard top of the overall standings, while UAE have Ayuso, Almeida and Marc Soler all eight seconds behind, with Italian climber Ciccone rounding out the top five.Almeida said the result was a confidence boost for his team.“The gaps are small and we need to be realistic. But it was full gas for everybody today. It would have been nicer to have the red jersey but we are getting closer and closer to it,” said the Portuguese.Some 15 national time-trial champions were sporting their country’s colours on the course, where the eight-rider teams needed to finish the race with four riders together.Team Lotto were the first down the starters’ ramp from outside a giant pink castle decorated with croissants and boiled eggs designed by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who used to live in it. Tom Pidcock’s outfit Q36.5 did better than expected at 22sec on the British rider’s first outing in the team event.“It’s not bad, I mean, I think we did a really great time-trial. It’s my first as a pro, the first for this team,” said Pidcock, the Olympic mountain bike champion.“The last 5km was horrible. I kept missing the back. When someone pulls out and you mistime it, then I was dying,” said Pidcock, who dropped to 13th overall at 30sec.Overnight leader David Gaudu slipped to sixth at 16sec, while Egan Bernal of Ineos dropped from fifth to 10th at 22sec.The race next enters the Pyrenees with two tough mountain stages.

Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the overall lead of the Vuelta a Espana on the fifth-stage team time-trial Wednesday, while Team UAE riders Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida climbed to second and third in the standings. As the 21-day race arrived in Spain after four stages in Italy and France, the leaderboard was reshuffled with the three race favourites moving to the top of the deck. Team UAE won the 24.1km stage around Figueres in 25min and 26sec, with Vingegard’s Visma just eight seconds off the pace and Giulio Ciccone’s Lidl-Trek a further second slower in third on the day. The result leaves two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard top of the overall standings, while UAE have Ayuso, Almeida and Marc Soler all eight seconds behind, with Italian climber Ciccone rounding out the top five. Almeida said the result was a confidence boost for his team. “The gaps are small and we need to be realistic. But it was full gas for everybody today. It would have been nicer to have the red jersey but we are getting closer and closer to it,” said the Portuguese. Some 15 national time-trial champions were sporting their country’s colours on the course, where the eight-rider teams needed to finish the race with four riders together. Team Lotto were the first down the starters’ ramp from outside a giant pink castle decorated with croissants and boiled eggs designed by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who used to live in it. Tom Pidcock’s outfit Q36.5 did better than expected at 22sec on the British rider’s first outing in the team event. “It’s not bad, I mean, I think we did a really great time-trial. It’s my first as a pro, the first for this team,” said Pidcock, the Olympic mountain bike champion. “The last 5km was horrible. I kept missing the back. When someone pulls out and you mistime it, then I was dying,” said Pidcock, who dropped to 13th overall at 30sec. Overnight leader David Gaudu slipped to sixth at 16sec, while Egan Bernal of Ineos dropped from fifth to 10th at 22sec. The race next enters the Pyrenees with two tough mountain stages.