The Japan Times - Vingegaard touching Vuelta glory with stage 20 triumph as protests persist

British rider Tom Pidcock retained third place for what will be his first Grand Tour podium finish.

The two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard dropped Almeida on the gruelling climb up the Bola del Mundo mountain, ahead of Sunday's ceremonial final stage arriving in Madrid.

Danish Visma-Lease a Bike rider Vingegaard won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, and was runner up to Tadej Pogacar in the last two editions.

The slender climber won three stages along the way, and was delighted with his form Saturday.

"I wanted to win in Bilbao, I wanted to win on Angliru, but the Bola del Mundo is also a very special one," said Vingegaard.

"Today I felt better than the previous mountain-top finishes... super happy how things went for me today and how it has gone for the team in the last three weeks."

This year's race has been heavily affected by pro-Palestinian protest against the presence of the Israel-Premier Tech team and stage 20 was also hit.

This time however organisers were able to maintain the finish line atop maybe the race's toughest summit, and provide a challenging final setting for a full on struggle between the main contenders.

The stage had a minor route modification because of a large protest near Cercedilla and cyclists were forced to divert around a group of protestors sitting in the road around 20 kilometres from the finish.

Protestors formed a partial blockade, with Vingegaard and Almeida forced to ride around them way before the day's major challenge.

Team cars following riders were however delayed by the protesting group.

Vingegaard paced himself with most of the top ten riders before breaking away to virtually crown himself 2025 champion in style.

The steep inclines pushed all the riders to the limit, but Vingegaard had the legs to finish alone and open up a 1 minute 16 second lead on the Portuguese UAE Team Emirates cyclist.

Almeida's second-place finish will be his career best at Grand Tour level, beating third at the Giro d'Italia in 2023.

Pidcock was delighted by sewing up overall third place by 30 seconds from Jai Hindley, whose wheel he held on to up the final climb, losing just a few seconds at the line.

Pidcock is a two time Olympic mountain bike champion, but he suggested this podium meant more.

"I'm really proud of myself, it's the biggest performance of my career," said Pidcock, who left Ineos for a fresh start with Swiss team Q36.5 this season.

Riders on Sunday will cover 103.6km between Alalpardo and Madrid instead of the 111.6km planned.

The section removed would have crossed the plush Madrid neighbourhood of Aravaca 9km from the centre, organisers told media, without specifying a reason.

Madrid have ramped up security measures for the final stage of the race, with the first deputy mayor saying policing numbers would be "almost doubled".

The central government's representation in Madrid said there will be "extraordinary" reinforcements to keep riders safe, with more than 1,500 extra police officers, both municipal and national, to be deployed.

K.Hashimoto--JT