What began as a punchy Bilbao circuit stage became a day defined by crowd unrest and an improvised finish. After multiple demonstrations around the course and chaotic scenes at the line in Bilbao, organisers confirmed mid-finale that there would be no stage winner, with general classification times taken at the 3km-to-go banner. Points were still awarded at the intermediate sprint and on the climbs. The announcement landed just as the favourites were bracing for the decisive ramp of the Alto de Pike, and it flipped the tactical board in an instant.
“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.”
Photo Credit: Unipublic / Cxcling / Antonio BaixauliEarly aggression and a tight leash
From kilometre zero Visma controlled the head of the race, intent on policing who could go clear. The first climb, the Alto de Laukiz, triggered a wave of moves: Mads Pedersen surged with Joel Nicolau, the Spaniard nipping the first KOM, while a revolving cast tried to bridge under Visma’s gaze. The trio of Pedersen, Marc Soler and Orluis Aular coalesced over the Alto de Sollube, Pedersen taking the points, but Soler’s GC proximity meant the gap was never allowed to breathe.
Soler pressed on regardless. He dropped his companions on the Alto de Morga and held close to a minute for a spell as Visma’s tempo – long stints from Dylan van Baarle – gradually reeled him in. A counter of strongmen shuffled behind: Victor Campenaerts, Santiago Buitrago and Louis Vervaeke hovered between Soler and the bunch, but the elastic finally snapped before the race returned to the Bilbao circuits. The peloton was back together with roughly 65km left.
Landa lights it up, Buitrago counters
Onto the first ascent of the Alto de Vivero and the home crowds got what they came for. Mikel Landa attacked, cresting first to take the cat-2 points. Buitrago countered across, and the pair carved out around 40 seconds. Behind, Ben Tulett and Visma set an orderly chase while UAE deployed Felix Grossschartner and Jay Vine to keep things honest. Sadly for Landa, back issues – a lingering problem since his Giro crash – bit hard on the descent. He sat up stretching, Buitrago pressed on alone, and the move lost its bite.
The intermediate sprint in Bilbao brought fresh tension for different reasons. Pedersen reached the line but was forced to ease amid a flare-up of protests, later being awarded the third-best points. Moments later, riders negotiated a corridor where barriers appeared to have been breached and paper was thrown onto the road. The mood shifted from race focus to safety and protocol.
Photo Credit: Unipublic/Naike EreñozagaDecision time amid escalating protests
With 30-odd kilometres remaining the GC group cooled its jets as radio chatter intensified. Reports filtered through that GC times might be taken at 3km to go. Within minutes, the race confirmed the new procedure and the unprecedented call: no stage winner due to the incidents at the finish line. Organisers added that mountain and intermediate-sprint points would stand, but there would be no points at the finish.
From that point every calculation hinged on reaching the 3km banner with a gap. The Alto de Pike – 2.1km at 9.2% and cresting just over 7km from where the finish would have been – became a GC launchpad rather than a springboard for a stage win.
Pike turns into a two-up time trial to the 3km banner
The red-jersey group hit Pike with numbers from Visma and UAE. Matteo Jorgenson paced the early slopes, then Tom Pidcock changed the gradient of the race with a sharp acceleration. Jonas Vingegaard followed, while João Almeida began to feel the pinch, and Jai Hindley slid back a length or two. Pidcock kicked again near the steepest pitches, briefly dislodging Vingegaard, then the Dane fought back onto the wheel as the summit approached.
Over the top, Pidcock took maximum KOM points and six bonus seconds, Vingegaard four. With the finish now effectively the 3km banner, the pair committed on the descent and flat that followed, edging a slender advantage over the Almeida group that also contained Hindley, Jorgenson and Felix Gall. With 4km remaining to the new timing point they held a handful of seconds; at roughly 3.5km to go the gap read 11 seconds. They swept under the 3km kite still clear, sat up almost immediately – neither rider had clocked that this was now the line that mattered – then soft-pedalled, their job done.
On provisional timings, Vingegaard and Pidcock should gain in the region of 10 seconds on Almeida and the rest, pending official confirmation. Given the complexity of the late change and the disorder near the original finish, the final GC gaps may take time to verify.
What was awarded – and what wasn’t
- No stage winner was declared.
- GC times were taken at the 3km-to-go point.
- KOM points were awarded as usual – Pidcock first over Pike, Landa earlier on Vivero, Soler on Morga and Balcón de Bizkaia, Nicolau on Laukiz, Pedersen on Sollube.
- Intermediate sprint points in Bilbao were honoured, with Pedersen receiving the third-tier haul after being impeded by the protest situation.
A stage built for late attacking was ultimately reframed by events off the bike. Within that moving target, the favourites still raced Pike hard, and two of them – Vingegaard and Pidcock – read the new script fastest. Now the race waits for the official read-back of the time gaps.
2025 Vuelta a Espana Stage 11 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
