Vuelta a España Vuelta 2025, stage 21: Alalpardo - Madrid (108 km)

[kingjr]

Yes, I'm chocked they didn't clear it with law enforcement before the stage whether they would do their job or not.

Is a bike race important enough to warrant the kind of scenes that could lead to? If the last stage of the Vuelta is cancelled, no one really cares outside the cycling bubble. But if there are scenes of violence--as part of efforts to clear the roads for a bike race--going viral on social media, it's a different story.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

The race organizers could not do anything as it would go against UCI rules.

I'm not sure all the protestors are wearing socks of legal lengths.

 

[ice&fire]

Well the UCI can decide if they can remove the licence of the Vuelta or they can pack the bags of IPT and send them to the amateur ranks.

That would be a punishment on the organiser, who has no say on what the police does or doesn't do to maintain order. If there is anyone to punish it's the country hosting the race, for all races.

 

[burning]

Its pretty absurd to think that any (local, law, municipal etc) official would order to use force to disperse the crowd and commit political suicide. Its obvious that the protests are way more popular in Spain compared to the Vuelta

 

[Sciatic]

If I can say this aside from the specific political content, in a protest of this sort when it's about messaging to the wider world rather than stopping the home government from doing something, the escalation to violence and stoppage will eventually dilute the messaging. Instead of seeing (during several passages of the peloton) the thousands of flags held by peaceful protesters at the finish area, instead we begin seeing images of chaos that disconnects from the message. Protestors will feel like they've won something. But only for their egos, not for their cause.

 

[JosefK]

I think some people are angry with Matteo Jorgenson's mustache.. I know I am.. People are harder to see but they are out there!

Matteo Jorgenson's support group:

 

[Rob5091]

I'm not sure all the protestors are wearing socks of legal lengths.

I was refering to one of the teams not the protesters, but even so, check those socks!

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Nice to see a proper protest against these mickey mouse final stage processions. No doubt a few forum users in Madrid have joined in to prevent another japser philepsen sprint win

 

[Unchained]

Matteo Jorgenson's support group:

I am bummed that during the intermission you didn't include Sabotage.. Which fits seamlessly with what is going on.. Or Intergalactic!

 

[noob]

Now we ended up in Quebec instead

 

[Tim Cahill]

Now lets never speak of this race again.

 

[Sciatic]

Nice to see a proper protest against these mickey mouse final stage processions. No doubt a few forum users in Madrid have joined in to prevent another japser philepsen sprint win

And that is the only thing they actually managed to do.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

At this point, the UCI has a pretty binary choice they need to make: no more races in Spain, or no more Sylvan Adams in the sport. However, it’s much more likely that they will continue to pretend it’s not up to them to do anything, and thus I don’t think this will be the last time we see a race cancelled in Spain for this reason. Only way I would expect them to make a call either way is if the protests spread to other countries.

 

[Sciatic]

I don't know why RTVE is just showing the protest at this point, as it's no longer part of the race. I guess I just stop watching then!

 

[carolina]

I guess they're not going to do the podium ceremony. A real shame for Vingo, Almeida and Pidcock.

 

[noob]

I don't know why RTVE is just showing the protest at this point, as it's no longer part of the race. I guess I just stop watching then!

Eurosport is in Quebec already

 

[HashRouge]

Whatever you think of the protests themselves, you gotta agree it was immensely dumb of the organizers to just carry on and bury their heads in the sand and wish very hard for the problem to blow over on its own

This, 100%.
They must have known they would never manage the finish in Madrid. I was surprised they didn't just call it after yesterday tbh, but otherwise surely they could have cut today's stage in half and finished somewhere innocuous on the route. At this point, don't even publicise it. Just tell the teams.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I don't know why RTVE is just showing the protest at this point, as it's no longer part of the race. I guess I just stop watching then!

RTVE also have a duty to report on the news, and whichever way you slice or dice it this is one of the biggest stories going on in the country right now.

 

[Sciatic]

Eurosport is in Quebec already

Yup, just swiched, but will be pairing it with the NFL

 

[Sciatic]

RTVE also have a duty to report on the news, and whichever way you slice or dice it this is one of the biggest stories going on in the country right now.

Okay, thanks for that prrspective.

 

[RedheadDane]

Yup, just swiched, but will be pairing it with the NFL

They need to sort out their priorities!

 

[Unchained]

If Spanish authorities were smart they would start some flash mob dancing event..

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hlvRNgGOQ&pp=ygUJZmxhc2ggbW9i

 

[Savant12]

All World Tour teams should boycott the Vuelta next year. Spanish Organization, Government and Police have been a shambles.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

All World Tour teams should boycott the Vuelta next year. Spanish Organization, Government and Police have been a shambles.

Or, one team could simply not participate

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I can't recall when law enforcement gave up beforehand against disorder in my corner of the world, no matter how popular the disorder was.

This was the case all over Europe quite recently, during the wave of farmers' protests. Very much not something exclusive to these protests, or Spain generally, or even southern Europe more broadly.