Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard snatched his career-first victory in this year’s Vuelta a España as pro-Palestine protests erupted in Madrid.
Sunday’s 21st stage marked the end of the tour, which was marred with protests throughout the three-week battle that led to shortened races and even a neutralised stage.
But Vingegaard managed to hold onto the red jersey in the final week, beating out fellow competitors Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling, who finished second and third, respectively.
Vingegaard seals victory on Bola del Mundo
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard showed exceptional form as the final week commenced on Tuesday, despite reports he was battling an illness the prior week, raising questions about his condition to defend the red jersey.
However, the Dane raced the gruelling climb up the Bola del Mundo mountain during Stage 20 on Saturday, dropping Almeida and widening the gap between them to place his tour victory beyond doubt.
That stage also saw his team-mate, Sepp Kuss, play a key role as Vingegaard’s domestique up the Queen stage – a full circle moment after the Dane helped Kuss secure his first Grand Tour win in the 2023 Vuelta.
Kuss outpaced Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Jai Hindley and grabbed second place on the stage.
For Vingegaard, it was his third and final stage win for the Vuelta 2025.
“Of course, I wanted to win in Bilbao and at L’Angliru, but Bola del Mundo is also something special”, he said told La Vuelta’s website.
“To be honest, I started to feel a bit better today, better than the previous mountain top finishes, so I’m happy with how things have turned for me today and with how the team has done over the last three weeks.
“The team has been amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
A two-time defending Tour de France winner from 2022 to 2023, Vingegaard was at his peak when he suffered a life-threatening crash in the Itzulia Basque Country in 2024.
He has been rebuilding his form since then, placing second in the Tour de France in 2024 and 2025 behind his main rival, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
This year’s La Vuelta gathered 184 riders from 23 teams to battle it out on the roads spanning a total of 3,185.9 kilometres in different kinds of terrain.
Completing the jersey winners were Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek for the points classification, Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the mountains classification and Matthew Riccitello of Israel-Premier Tech for the youth classification.
Meanwhile, the UAE Team was named the winner of the teams classification category.
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Madrid protests force shortened finale
The peloton started the final stage on Sunday from Alalpardo for a mostly ceremonial race before they were stopped by protests as they entered the Spanish capital of Madrid with more than 55km left on the stage.
The race had already been shortened from 111.6km to 103.6km.
Thousands of protestors waving Palestinian flags thronged the streets along the route, gathering at the finish line where police and protestors reportedly clashed.
Organisers then decided to end the stage early and cancel the podium ceremony.
Protests were largely aimed against the participation of the private Israel-Premier Tech team in the tour.
Before Sunday’s race, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his admiration for the protestors, in a report from the BBC.
“Today marks the end of the Vuelta. Our respect and recognition for the athletes and our admiration for the Spanish people who are mobilising for just causes like Palestine”, he said during a socialist party rally in the southern city of Malaga.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino