Overview

• Race organizers definitively halted the 21st stage at 56 kilometers after thousands of demonstrators toppled barriers and entered the circuit at Gran Vía, Atocha and Plaza de Colón.
• Police charged crowds and fired tear gas as a reinforced deployment of roughly 1,500 officers failed to keep the route clear in central Madrid.
• No stage winner was declared and podium ceremonies were canceled, while the overall classification stood with Jonas Vingegaard winning the 80th Vuelta.
• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez voiced admiration for the mobilizations and Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz praised the protesters, as opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Israel’s foreign minister Gidéon Saar condemned the government’s stance.
• Weeks of disruptions had already forced route changes and shortened stages in Bilbao, Pontevedra and the Valladolid time trial, with at least one rider abandoning after a protest‑related crash and Michał Kwiatkowski criticizing the UCI’s handling.