Vuelta a España stage 11: Tom Pidcock gains GC time on race leader Jonas Vingegaard as race neutralised with 3km to go

“We won’t have a stage winner. We will give the points for the mountain classification and the intermediate sprint, but not on the finish line.”

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) continues to lead the overall classification as the race heads into stage 12 from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna on Thursday.

The peloton stops before the official start of stage 11’s 157.4km stage from Bilbao and back to Bilbao (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Vuelta a España’s stage 11 was expected to be a firecracker of a race as the peloton set on a challenging 157.4km that included seven categorised ascents in and around Bilbao.

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Ahead of the race, however, the riders met with organisers and officials from the UCI over concerns of safety amid multiple pro-Palestine protests that have happened during the race so far, including at the stage 5 team time trial in Figueres and a crash caused by demonstrators running onto the course on stage 10 that finished at El Ferial Larra Belagua.

Although the decision was to start the stage, there was an unspoken agreement that if protests turned dangerous, riders could adjust their plans accordingly, with safety as their highest priority.

The peloton was then stopped in the neutral zone as police moved protesters off the road, and the race restarted fairly quickly, continuing without incident.

An early breakaway emerged, featuring Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), points classification leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Orluis Aular (Movistar Team), which gained over a minute on the field led by Visma-Lease a Bike at the 100km to go.

The breakaway trio of Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) (Image credit: Getty Images)

The gap dropped to 40 seconds as the base of the fourth climb of the day, Alto de Morga (8.2km at 3.5%) and Soler took the opportunity to attack and carry on solo, leaving Pedersen and Aular behind, and the pair were caught on the lower slopes of the ascent.

Soler took the full points over the top, but counterattacks out of the peloton saw Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) and Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) pick up the remaining points in their hunt for the mountains classification.

Vervaeke continued in pursuit of Soler, reaching the Spaniard with 60km to go, but the pair were reeled in at the base of the Alto del Vivero (4.3km at 7.9%).

Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) was the first to attempt to ride off the front of the group on the first time up the Alto del Vivero, and managed to open a gap as the Visma-Lease a Bike-led field seemed relatively content to let him go.

Mikel Landa of Soudal-QuickStep (Image credit: Getty Images)

Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) bridged across to Landa, the pair no real threat to the overall classification at more than 15 minutes behind leader Vingegaard.

A chase group of six formed shortly after with Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Louis Rouland (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty) and Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL), but their efforts were brief.

Crowds cheered as the two leaders orbited the streets of Bilbao, especially for Landa on home roads, and they still faced two more ascents: Alto del Vivero and Alto de Pike before a descent to the finish line.

The field caught Landa at the base of the Alto del Vivero, and Buitrago climbed alone with a slim 25-second lead.

Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain – Victorious strikes out solo (Image credit: Getty Images)

Joāo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was the first to attack from the thinning peloton, and a selection formed with the GC favourites that reconnected with Buitrago over the top, including Vingegaard.

The reduced 40-rider peloton merged with about 16km remaining, Visma-Lease a Bike controlled matters at the front, setting a brisk pace through the roundabouts and city streets in Bilbao.

Basque regional police ‘Ertzaintza’ officers at the finish area (Image credit: Getty Images)

It was then that race organizers and officials confirmed to competing teams that, due to incidents at the finish line, the times would be taken with three kilometres to go, and that there would be no stage winner, effectively neutralizing the end of the stage.

Seizing an opportunity on the 16% slopes of the Alto de Pike with 8.5km remaining, Pidcock distanced his rivals, taking valuable bonus seconds moving higher up in the general classification, while Almeida, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) led a frantic chase behind.

Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, in the Red Leader Jersey, rides with Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling in the final breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)

But it was Vingegaard who successfully bridged across to Pidcock, leading the duo into the final stretches of road to gain as much time as possible before the neutralisation with 3km to go.

As they reached the stopping point, Vingegaard and Pidcock finished with about 12 seconds ahead of the next group that included Almeida, Hindley, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and about 30 seconds ahead of Bernal, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech).