The Dane finished second in the general classification in his last Vuelta, with his team-mate Sepp Kuss the winner of the red jersey in 2023, but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider finally has his hands on the third Grand Tour of his career.
But Vuelta organisers decided to neutralise the race with 57km remaining as protestors entered the streets of the capital.
It was deemed impossible for the riders to continue to the 6.2km finishing circuit, located in the centre of the city, and organisers also confirmed that there would be no podium ceremony in a brief statement.
“For security reasons, Stage 21 of La Vuelta has been ended early. There will be no podium ceremony,” read the statement.
Vingegaard had increased his GC lead over second-placed Joao Almeida from 44 seconds to 1’16” by the end of Stage 20, with Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider Tom Pidcock hanging onto third for his maiden Grand Tour podium.
His compatriot, Mads Pedersen, had long sewn up the race for the green points jersey, while Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates-XRG beat Vingegaard to the climber’s title.
The USA’s Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) was the recipient of the young rider’s award, as Visma took top spot in the team rankings.
After his title-sealing win on Stage 20, Vingegaard was delighted to finish strong after battling with illness for much of the race.
“Actually, it started already after Stage 9, which I won. So already on the rest day I was feeling a bit sick in the throat and in the nose,” said Vingegaard.
“It just kept being there for so long and I feel like it really affected me, because before I got it, I was really on my best level and then I could just see that I had to fight for every watt to be honest.
“But then to come back like this today, I’m super happy with it.”
‘It really affected me’ – Vingegaard overcomes illness to win Stage 20 of La Vuelta
Video credit: TNT Sports
And reflecting on his maiden Vuelta win, the 28-year-old was pleased to prove to himself and the world that he was still capable of riding at a “really high level” after a full season without a Grand Tour success.
“It means a lot to me. It’s the first Vuelta for me and it’s the first Grand Tour for me in two years,” said Vingegaard, a winner of the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023.
“So to come back also from everything that I went through in the last few years, is actually really nice for me and nice that I can be here and I can show that I’m still on a really high level.
“For sure I will remember the fight I’ve had with Joao [Almeida]. He’s a super-strong rider and he showed it here as well. He really put me on the limit sometimes so it’s been a really nice fight actually and I enjoyed it.”
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