{"id":143129,"date":"2025-09-14T18:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T18:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/143129\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T18:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T18:19:07","slug":"race-organisers-confirm-that-vuelta-a-espana-has-to-stop-before-finish-of-stage-21-because-of-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/143129\/","title":{"rendered":"Race organisers confirm that Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a has to stop before finish of stage 21 because of protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> was forced to stop some 60 kilometres from the finish after pro-Palestine protesters broke through barricades into the final circuit in central Madrid in several places.<\/p>\n

It initially remained unclear whether the race would reach the finish in Madrid but the number of demonstrations in the central part of the city made it very unlikely it could continue, and this was later confirmed by the organisers to Spanish TV.<\/p>\n

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Riders were initially stopped a few kilometres from the finishing 6.2-kilometre circuit, and after a few more kilometres of riding together once again, they were stopped definitively.<\/p>\n

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TV images of barricades lying across the roads showed race barriers scattered all over the road and protestors marching triumphantly down the centre of the finishing circuit.<\/p>\n

The 103-kilometre stage 21 from Alopardo to Madrid had started as usual, with typical rounds of congratulations between teams and photos of different riders the front of the peloton, but initially no blockades.<\/p>\n

However, the race was already diverted around two outlying towns, San Sebastian de los Reyes and Alcobendas, because of demonstrations in the centres.<\/p>\n

The situation at the finish line on Paseo de la Castellana was far more serious, however with protesters chanting and shouting, as well as breaking through barricades.<\/p>\n

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Riders already began climbing into team cars and heading away from the race. “It’s obvious,” TVE commentators said, “that they can’t get to the centre of the city.”<\/p>\n

The Vuelta has already been hit by multiple suspensions or alterations of the stages due to pro-Palestine protests, with the race most recently almost stopped on stage 20 at the foot of La Bola del Mundo.<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the first time a Grand Tour has been stopped before its final stage by political demonstrators since the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a in 1978 in San Sebastian.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a coverage. Our team of journalists are on the ground from the Italian Gran Partida through to Madrid, bringing you breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage of the Grand Tour as it happens. Find out more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a was forced to stop some 60 kilometres from the finish after pro-Palestine protesters broke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-143129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}