As it happened: No stage winner but GC gaps emerge as Vuelta a España stage 10 disrupted by protestors

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 11 of the Vuelta a España.

We have what looks like a very exciting stage coming up today.

157km through the punchy Basque hills, with seven categorised climbs on the route. Here's a look at the profile:

Looking for a more detailed breakdown of the stage?

Read our full preview: 'It could be even more decisive than Angliru' – Brutal Basque Country hills near Bilbao set to bring 'chaos' to Vuelta a España stage 11

In the headlines this morning is the fall out of a protestor incident that happened yesterday. The TV cameras avoided showing it, but a handful of people ran into the road, and a rider crashed, which the peloton are obviously unhappy about.

'We just want to race' – Riders speak out against pro-Palestine protests that caused Vuelta a España crash

There's a new red jersey to keep an eye out for today, because Jonas Vingegaard moved back into the race lead on stage 10.

Vuelta a España standings 2025 – general classification after stage 10

Obligatory dog content from the start.

Wow, interesting developments at the start on the protest issue, per The Cycling Podcast's Daniel Friebe:

Not sure there is any precedence for the peloton essentially voting a team out.

But it does seem like Israel-Premier Tech's presence is making the race a target, and more dangerous things are happening.

It's a very red outfit for Jonas Vingegaard, plus bar tape, though not a red bike.

He said he wants to keep red until Madrid this time after already wearing the jersey twice in this race.

The riders should be about to roll-out for the neutral start...

Abandons

Two non-starters this morning:

• Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Paul Ourselin (Cofidis)

Neutral start

We're rolling.

There's a 6.6km neutral zone today.

Israel-Premier Tech have started today, by the way.

The riders are ready for a pretty full on start today.

The first climb starts after just under 20km.

Tom Pidcock spoke to Eurosport before the start. He's a favourite today as the course should suit him.

He's hoping Visma keep things together so the GC group can go for the stage win. That's what he's hoping to achieve in this race, and sees today as a possible opportunity.

Team representatives, the race organisers, the CPA and the UCI met at the start this morning.

We're not privy to the full outcome, but clearly it wasn't to expel Israel-Premier Tech – not today, at least.

Race stopped

The race has already been stopped, in the neutral, by protesters in the road.

The riders are stopped behind the red lead car.

Protesters are at the side of the road holding flags and a banner.

Race restarted

The peloton is rolling again.

2.5km left of the roll out.

That early protest could be a sign of more things to come. The Basque Country has been particularly fervent in its support for Palestine, dating back decades.

In more lighthearted news, Jonas VIngegaard received a special gift this morning from Athletic Bilbao.

Official start

Flag drops and away we go!

Visma are immediately on the front, they'll be policing who goes in the break today it seems like.

Climb: Alto de Laukiz (4km at 4.7%)

We're onto the first climb – my apologies for saying the first climb was after 20km, that's actually the second.

The Alto de Laukiz starts straight away.

Kelland O'Brien is on the attack with his teammate Eddie Dunbar on his wheel.

Jayco are super visible up front, as are EF.

Dunbar is launching on his own now, stretching out the bunch.

Beloki is on his wheel, and Ayuso is in the mix too.

Visma are up front here, so they do want to keep an eye on who is escaping.

It's Van Baarle and Campenaerts on security guard duty today.

Here is some more context from Daniel Friebe on this morning's meeting.

The stoppage earlier avoided any incident, and the protest did not appear to be violent, so it depends how riders are defining 'peaceful'.

KOM: Alto de Laukiz (cat 3)

Back to the race: Mads Pedersen is on the attack, with Joel Nicolau on his wheel.

Nicolau wins the max KOM points.

Pedersen and Nicolau are pushing on up front, with a five-rider group chasing them.

Visma are speeding along behind though.

Bruno Armirail is trying to bridge up to the two leaders.

The five-rider group was caught.

The next climb is coming in 10km, the Alto de Sollube.

This a more substantial climb than the first one, at 7.3km long.

Chasers are caught, and Pedersen and Nicolau have about 15 seconds of a gap.

They're working well together but ideally need some stronger riders to join them.

Okay, a new batch of riders are attacking to try and bridge.

It's Visma who are making it hard for anyone to get away.

Looks like Chris Harper is attacking out of the peloton for Jayco, with a Movistar rider on his wheel.

Through every town there are big crowds of people with Palestine flags.

This must be causing a bit of anxiety for the riders. You can see why they had a meeting about it this morning, and why it's becoming a big issue.

Pedersen is looking back behind him, hoping some more riders are coming up to join them.

Gal Glivar and Jordan Labrosse are chasing, with Harper and the Movistar rider just behind them.

More riders are attacking out of the peloton to try and join the leaders.

Visma are letting two more go, but maybe not much more than that.

Some images of the stoppage/protest earlier.

Chris Harper is caught, Michel Heßmann is pushing on to catch Labrosse and Glivar.

Jardi van der Lee and Jesus Herrada have joined Heßmann in the chase. Gijs Leemreize is trying to bridge from the peloton too.

KOM: Alto de Sollube (7.3km at 4.2%)

Pedersen has dropped Nicolau on the base of the climb. Impressive!

The climb is reigniting the attacks in the peloton as a fresh batch of riders come past the chasers.

Riders are already dropping, including Jasper Philipsen, as the gruppetto forms early.

Lots of movement and attacking at the front of the peloton.

This climb is the best time to try and make a gap.

Pedersen is still pushing on alone in the lead.

Ben O'Connor is struggling early. Ouch.

He's not having a great race.

135km to go

20km completed. Not a very long stage today.

The aggressors are about to catch up to Pedersen as the fight for the break continues.

Pedersen is caught.

Visma are also trying to shut down the riders who are trying to escape.

The bunch is extremely strung out already.

Pedersen and Ayuso are still hovering around the front.

A group of 25 or so riders have a little gap on the rest of. the peloton, but it's not really going anywhere.

Visma are keeping it close, and in fact the gap has just closed.

Peloton all back together, and Pedersen attacks again.

The Dane is so strong.

Two riders are with Pedersen – Marc Soler and Orluis Aular.

They're speeding along to try and make this stick.

Can see just behind that Visma are trying to close the door on the peloton.

They'd be more or less happy with this trio.

Kudos to this man, he hasn't stopped attacking today.

Aular can't or won't take a turn.

Not great for a three man group to have a passenger.

KOM: Alto de Sollube (cat 3)

The trio roll across and Pedersen takes the maximum points.

Mountain points won't help his campaign for green, of course.

The three leaders only have a gap of 15 seconds, so I won't consider this deal done just yet.

30 seconds for the leaders now.

Soler being in this group might be a problem – he's only 3:30 down on GC.

A couple more riders are attacking, and Ben Tulett from Visma is following them.

Those counter-attackers have been brought back by Visma.

The leaders have 50 seconds now.

Visma are pacing the peloton. Not clear if they want to close that gap or just control it.

115km to go

The leaders have 55 seconds. It's been steady for a while here.

Visma aren't chasing it down right now, but they're clearly keeping it close.

That could change on the next climb, though.

Here's an inside look at this morning's safety meeting:

'If it’s all peaceful, then there’s no problem' – Riders meet with organisers and UCI on Vuelta a España start line over safety amid multiple pro-Palestine protests

The gap is coming down a bit, it's at 45 seconds now.

Visma would happily catch this trio, with Soler such a clear GC threat (even if that's not what he's there to do).

Pedersen and Aular were just talking, with Pedersen pointing at Soler.

Basically saying "this guy is the reason we're not getting a gap".

The gap is back up to a minute now.

10km until the start of the next climb.

100km to go

Just about to start the next climb.

It will be very interesting what this does for the break.

Climb: Balcón de Bizkaia (4.4 km at 5.3%)

The leaders are onto the next climb.

Another cat. 3, steepest of the day so far but still not a killer.

Visma are keeping it steady on the climb for now.

Pedersen is finding this climb a bit hard, but still with the leaders.

Soler is setting the pace.

The gap is actually going up, thanks to Soler's efforts.

It's 1:20 now. 2.4km to climb.

KOM: Balcón de Bizkaia (cat 3)

They roll over the KOM in order, with Soler taking max points.

His teammate Jay Vine is in the lead of the classification.

Visma are still keeping this very close. 1:10 again now.

It's Jonas Vingegaard's son's birthday today, apparently, so he wants to win the stage for him.

Very sweet. Poor Marc Soler and Mads Pedersen, hopes dashed by a baby.

Snaking down the descent now.

Three climbs done, four to go....

The gap is notably fallingg now, down to 47 seconds.

It will be interesting to see how this stage goes if they're brought back early.

Wheel change for Juan Ayuso.

Not long until the next climb, which is 8.5km long, but only 3.5% average.

Big old shift for Dylan van Baarle today. He's been setting tempo for ages, it feels like.

It's so beautiful and green in the Basque Country.

The gap is down to 30 seconds now.

Soler is pushing on ahead of Aular and Pedersen.

Climb: Alto de Morga (8.2km at 3.5%)

Onto the next dragging climb.

Soler is solo now.

Soler is doing better on his own, actually – his gap is back up to 50 seconds now he's dispatched his passengers.

Pedersen and Aular caught by the peloton.

Soler has over a minute now.

Visma really have to control this though – remember, Soler is just 3:30 down on GC.

75km to go

Halfway done.

Expecting a lot of action in this second half.

Solo Soler

The car is talking to Soler right now.

Think they're saying he can keep trying if he wants.

KOM: Alto de Morga (cat. 3)

Soler takes max points.

A small counter move went over the top of the climb.

Louis Vervaeke and Joel Nicolau wanted to grab some KOM points, so they're now in a small group with Victor Campenaerts and Santiago Buitrago.

That injection of pace has cut Soler's lead, the group of four are only 40 seconds behind him.

65km to go

The four-man chase group is making some good progress towards Soler.

Bike change for Sepp Kuss.

Vervaeke is on the attack now from the chasers.

The gap is 26 seconds. Campenaerts and Buitrago weren't working – just representing the GC teams – so makes sense for Vervaeke to leave them behind.

Buitrago, Campenaerts and Nicolau are back in the peloton.

Vervaeke is still trying to reach Soler.

The peloton are just 16 seconds behind Soler now.

They'll soon sweep up him and Vervaeke.

Vervaeke just joined Soler, but they're only a few seconds ahead of the bunch.

Breakaway caught

There we go, the leaders are caught.

Peloton all together.

Climb: Alto de Vivero (4.3km at 7.9%)

Onto the Alto de Vivero, which the peloton will tackle twice.

Mikel Landa is attacking!

Landa has about 25 seconds of a lead. Popular home attacker.

Santiago Buitrago has just countered behind.

Visma are policing things at the front of the peloton, but not shutting everything down.

An Intermarché is attacking now, following Buitrago and Landa – not quite sure who yet.

It's Kamiel Bonneu from Intermarché.

Great scenes on this climb with all the passionate Basque fans.

A whole group of riders are attacking, with Bonneu – Campenaerts, Dunbar, Labrosse, Louis Rouland.

KOM: Alto de Vivero (cat 2)

Maximum points for Landa.

Looking like, further down the way, Mads Pedersen is on the attack. There's a sprint at the bottom of the descent.

Buitrago has joined up with Landa.

They have 23 seconds on the chasing group with Dunbar and Campenaerts.

Pedersen is with the main chasing group now.

He wants to grab some points at the sprint, which is in 6km in Bilbao.

45km to go

Buitrago and Landa have 40 seconds over the chasers, and about 55 on the peloton.

Landismo.

They're going through the finish in Bilbao and the protest scenes are fairly wild.

People were throwing paper onto the road, and seem to have broken down the barriers.

That was quite a worrying scene at the finish. Unsure what that will mean for the actual finish of the race.

Pedersen was awarded the third-best points at the sprint, as he had to slow because of the protests.

With Pedersen's points secured, that chase group is just being caught by the peloton.

Buitrago and Landa are 40 seconds ahead with 35km to go.

Landa is having some kind of problem, possibly cramp in his back.

He's dropped away from Buitrago and just freewheeling.

Ah that's the end of it for Landa, which is a shame.

He's stretching his back, which he injured in a horrible crash at the Giro.

Tough for Landa. The peloton has come straight past him, he can't put power through the pedals.

30km to go

Buitrago still has 40 seconds on the bunch.

Two climbs still to come.

Climb: Alto del Vivero (4.2km at 8.3%)

Back onto this climb.

Jay Vine and Finn Fisher-Black are pushing on in the peloton.

And Vingegaard accelerates up to them.

No gaps in the peloton but Fisher-Black is setting the pace.

Vingegaard is third wheel, with Almeida behind him.

More protesters just pulled a banner across the road in front of the peloton, but they got past without issue.

Buitrago's gap is down to 20 seconds.

Interesting to see Red Bull working behind, they haven't done much but both Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari are in a good position overall.

25km to go

João Almeida attacks!

Vingegaard is straight on his wheel.

Pellizzari is on the offensive now for Red Bull.

Not getting a gap but setting a tough pace.

Almeida is trying again. Tulett and Vingegaard shut it down.

And the red jersey group has just caught Buitrago.

10 riders in the leading red jersey group now.

Pidcock, Almeida and Ciccone are all there with Vingegaard.

Riders are coming back to the back of this group.

Tulett is on the front and not driving an unreasonable pace.

Onto the descent. The riders just have to take on the steep Alto de Pike, which 2.1km with an average gradient of 9.2%, and tops out just over 7km from the finish.

These were the scenes at the finish line earlier.

João Almeida giving it a dig on the Alto del Vivero.

Things have calmed down in the GC group, with UAE and Visma both with numbers.

They're getting ready for the Alto del Pike, probably, but not sure if maybe something has been communicated about the race or route regarding those protests.

Spanish TV are reporting that GC times are going to be taken 3km from the finish today. We'll confirm that as and when the race do.

No stage winner

Race radio has just confirmed that there won't be a race winner today, due to the issues at the finish line. GC times will be taken 3km from the finish, but no one will win the stage.

"Due to some incidents at the finish line, we have decided to take the time at 3 kilometres before the line. 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."

That may mean the riders aren't going to go to the finish line in Bilbao at all.

Given the barriers have been broken down and the police were using force on protesters trying to break onto the road, that seems like the correct decision.

Really not sure what the riders are going to do here.

If a rider got a gap over the climb and went through the 3km to go point ahead, that time would be honoured on GC. But they might just not race.

The riders spoke about it, so seem to have come to a decision.

10km to go

Or 7km until the point that matters. Riders probably won't go to the finish line, I'd imagine.

Visma are setting the pace. We're about 3km from the bottom of the Alto de Pike.

Felix Großschartner setting the pace now for UAE.

Looks very much like this group are going to race the climb. GC fight incoming.

Apologies, the riders are on the climb now.

And it seems the peloton won't go to the finish line at all.

Jorgenson is pacing.

They are racing, but there's only 1km to the top, so not loads of time to make time gaps.

It's super steep here. GC riders all together.

Pidcock accelerates!

Vingegaard right behind him.

Almeida is struggling a bit. Hindley is third wheel and moving away from him.

Great riding from Pidcock.

Pidcock drops Vingegaard!

But the Dane finds his way back onto his wheel. Hindley and Almeida are gone though.

Pidcock goes again! Vingegaard can't match him on the steepest gradients.

KOM: Alto de Pike (cat 3)

Wow Pidcock has a good gap. He takes the max points over the top, and six bonus seconds.

Four for Vingegaard.

Vingegaard is back with Pidcock now.

4km to the de facto finish line.

Pidcock and Vingegaard are pushing on, a handful of seconds ahead of a group containing Almeida, Hindley, Jorgenson and Felix Gall.

Remember, they're not racing for a stage win here, but they will be awarded any time they have over Almeida and co at the 3km to go point.

Vingegaard and Pidcock have 11 seconds on the Almeida group.

I think we're about 500m away from the 'finish' line.

Vingegaard and Pidcock have just gone through the 3km to go point.

They're slowing down now. They didn't immediately know that was their finish line.

Vingegaard and Pidcock should have gained about 10 seconds, but we'll have to wait for the confirmed results, which could be a little slow to come through today, given everything.

The riders don't know what they're doing I don't think. No vehicles or soigneurs here to meet them yet, but I guess they're going to be directed somewhere.

Vingegaard stays in red

Jonas Vingegaard stays in red for another day.

That was a weird end to the stage. The TV coverage just panned to a helicopter shot of a large sculpture of a puppy, made out of flowers.

Results

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The riders are rolling towards the buses now, avoiding the finish line.

Here's Pidcock flying up the Alto de Pike.

No official winner but the Brit has got to be the winner of the day – riding Vingegaard off his wheel and gaining time on GC.

Victor Campenaerts confirming that Visma were going for the stage win.

Disappointing day for them, but he says they can be confident, as Vingegaard took some time from Almeida, who they see as their biggest rival.

Still no official results, I don't think.

Kurt Bogaerts, Tom Pidcock's coach, says the Brit will be disappointed and not getting to go for the win today.

It's a tough result for the riders and race, but safety of course put first.

Not sure if we're going to get a podium presentation or not.

"Then I was a bit disappointed and I didn't want to do anything" says Jonas Vingegaard.

He also says he wasn't sure if Tom Pidcock knew that there wasn't going to be a stage winner. And jokes that he went through 3km to go first so he must have won the stage.

No podium presentation

Jonas Vingegaard just confirmed that he won't be going to the podium (because he's sad he won't get a stuffed toy for his son't birthday).

"It's hard to describe the disappointment to be honest. I felt like today was my day. I feel like there should always be a finish line, we're not riding a fucking sportif are we," says Tom Pidcock.

He did know there would be no winner, and the finish line at 3km to go, but he just didn't know where 3km to go was, which is why he didn't immediately slow up.

Pidcock also says "Putting us in danger isn't going to help your cause."

Well, that's mostly it from us on quite a surreal day.

Back tomorrow for stage 12.