Jonas Vingegaard closed in on his first Vuelta a Espana title as he powered to victory in stage 20 while Britain’s Tom Pidcock tightened his grip on a first Grand Tour podium finish.
Denmark’s Vingegaard, 28, sped away in the final kilometre on the gruelling climb up the Bola del Mundo mountain to finish 11 seconds in front of team-mate Sepp Kuss, the 2023 winner.
Victory for Vingegaard extends his general classification lead over Portugal’s Joao Almeida to one minute and 16 seconds before Sunday’s ceremonial final stage in Madrid.
Pidcock, 26, finished fourth. It means that in the overall standings, he is 30 seconds in front of fourth-placed Jai Hindley, all but ensuring his place on Sunday’s podium.
It is a mark of success for the Olympic and former world mountain bike champion in his first Grand Tour where he has prioritised the general classification over stage wins.
“I’m pretty proud of myself. It’s definitely the biggest performance of my career,” said Pidcock.
“It’s maybe not the biggest win – others are more special – but I’m exhausted, to be honest, and I can’t really find any words.”
Earlier in the race, Pro-Palestinian protesters attempted to block the road around 20 kilometres from the finish.
Cyclists were quickly diverted around a group of about 50 protesters and the race was able to continue without significant disruption.
Race organisers had announced the the 21st and final stage of the Vuelta would be shortened from 111.6km to 103.6km.
Organisers did not specify a reason for the section removed, which would have crossed the plush Madrid neighbourhood of Aravaca.
There have been various protests against the Israel-Premier Tech team throughout the race, forcing stages to be shortened.
Riders have crashed as a result of the protests, with some saying they have been worried for their safety.
Last week, Israel-Premier Tech began racing in modified jerseys which did not display their team.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.