Stage 11 of La Vuelta 25 had no winner due to protests at the finish in Bilbao. The organisation of the race decided that the times would be taken 3 kilometres before the finish line. At that point, the overall leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was at the front with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), who had proven to be the punchiest on the final ascent of the day, the Alto de Pike. The Dane, whose teammates had controlled the stage from the start, retains La Roja ahead of stage 12, in Cantabria.
Bilbao, a classic of La Vuelta since the first edition, is back on the map with a punchy course bound to bring exhilarating racing. The route constantly goes up and down, with seven categorised climbs and 3,185 metres of elevation ahead of the riders, dreaming of emulating Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), winner in 2022 when the Spanish Grand Tour last visited Bilbao.
Pedersen and Soler show their grit
The race begins with the ascent up Alto de Laukiz, just like stage 1 of the Tour de France 2023. Attackers such as Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step) make early moves, but Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike drive a strong chase.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) manages to open a gap. Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) follows him, but he’s dropped at the bottom of the second climb of the day. The peloton also get back to Pedersen at km 22, but the Dane sets off again as the road flattens towards the summit. This time, he’s followed by Marc Soler and Orluis Aular (Movistar), also used to shine on these roads (3rd of the 2024 Circuito de Getxo, with Pike being the last ascent on the day).
Landa delights the crowds
Visma-Lease a Bike control the gap around a minute. Soler is the most active at the front. Into the last 80 kilometres, he goes solo at the bottom of the fourth ascent of the day, the Alto de Morga. He pushes his advantage to 1’25’’, but the gap drops again on the way to the first ascent up Alto de Vivero. Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step) takes the opportunity to bridge the gap to Soler… But the duo are immediately caught by the bunch, with 59 km to go.
Basque icon Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) attacks up the Alto del Vivero and makes his way to the summit alone (km 104.4). He’s caught by Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) just ahead of the final 50 kilometres. Behind them, a group of chasers emerges with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who goes third at the intermediate sprint when the race first travels through Bilbao (km 119.6).
A Pidcock show and no stage winner
Buitrago goes solo 33 km away from the line as Landa struggles with back pain. Onto the second ascent of the Alto del Vivero, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe up the ante. Joao Almeida accelerates twice. The Colombian is caught with 25 km to go and a dozen of riders remain at the front.
Stragglers get back while the race direction makes an announcement on Radio Vuelta regarding the end of the stage: “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.”
Onto the final ascent of the day, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) puts the hammer down. Jonas Vingegaard tries to follow, but he can’t keep up. At the summit, he trails by 5’’. He bridges the gap on the downhill and the duo finish together a handful of seconds ahead of Joao Almeida, Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike).
