A protest by a group of protesters against the participation of the Israeli team Israel-Premier Tech has forced the start in Bilbao of the twelfth stage of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana to be stopped for a few minutes on Wednesday. The organizers have shortened the stage by three kilometers to avoid possible incidents at the finish line, which is why There will be no stage winner.

For safety reasons, the times for the general classification in the eleventh stage of the Vuelta with start and finish in Bilbao were taken at 3 kilometers, so there was no stage winner. The Danish leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) and the British Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) passed the official time trial together with a few seconds advantage over a group that included Joao Almeida, Jorgenson, Hindley and Felix Gall. Jonas Vingegaard increases his advantage as leader of the Vuelta in the absence of official times. This Thursday the twelfth stage will take the peloton from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna over 144.9 km.

Shortly after it started from near the San Mames course, the peloton stopped for a few minutes due to a protest on the road by a group of demonstrators, who subsequently withdrew to allow the race to continue. For safety reasons, the organization has decided shorten the time measurement point of the finish line, which was scheduled for Bilbao, by three kilometers, and that there be no stage winner.

The protests against the Israeli team and the situation experienced by the Palestinian population in Gaza began when the race, which began in Italy, arrived in Spain. It was specifically during the team time trial in Figueres on August 28, where a pro-Palestinian group stormed the road and forced the Israeli team to stop for a few seconds.

Last Tuesday, as they passed through the Navarrese town of Lumbier, several people tried to stop the peloton, although they were ultimately unsuccessful. And during several stages, countless Palestinian flags and graffiti have been seen on the road along the route.

3 arrested,5 identified and 4 officers injured

The incidents during the Bilbao stage of the Vuelta a Espana due to protests against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team ended this Wednesday with three arrests, five people identified and four Ertzaintza officers injured. The Basque Government's Security Minister, Bingen Zupiria, told reporters in Bilbao that the first incident occurred during the neutralized start, on the climb to Enekuri, "when a group of people stopped the neutralized march." The Ertzaintza then had to remove two bales of straw at the top of Morga and on the first climb to Vivero they removed a banner that could affect the safety of the cyclists. "During the first passage of the peloton along the Gran Via in Bilbao - where the finish line of the eleventh stage was located - there were groups of people who broke through the protective barriers and broke into" the road, he explained. Zupiria He explained that, after this last incident, the Vuelta organisers decided to cancel the end of the stage on Gran Via because they considered that safety conditions were not being met, as officers had to be positioned in front of the fences to prevent them from being torn down and invading the road.