Pidcock shines on Alto de Pike but no stage winner in Bilbao at Vuelta

There was no winner on stage 11 of the Vuelta a España due to safety concerns over pro-Palestine protesters at the finish in Bilbao.

Radio Vuelta made the following announcement mid-race.

"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."

Despite there being no stage winner, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) excelled in the Basque hills, and on the slopes of the Alto de Pike, the Brit surged clear, and even managed to distance race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), gaining six bonus seconds at the summit, with Vingegaard taking four. The red jersey was able to bridge across past the summit, and the duo worked together on the descent towards the 3km mark to put some time into their fellow general classification rivals.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was the main aggressor from the flag drop with the green jersey wearer on the attack from the foot of the Alto de Laukiz.

The points classification leader was joined by Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) with plenty of riders in the chase behind before the Spanish rider was distanced on the Alto de Sollube. Pedersen, meanwhile, was joined by a plethora of riders who attacked on the climb, before things were all tied back together with the peloton.

Eventually, Pedersen would force his way clear once more and was joined by Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Orluis Aular (Movistar), and this time, the move would stick for the Dane.

Visma | Lease a Bike kept tabs on the trio, with the advantage hardly above one minute at any point, signally the Dutch team’s intent for the stage win.

With 80km to go, Soler rode clear from his companions on the lower slopes of the Alto de Morga with the peloton only 30 seconds behind.

Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) bridged across for a brief period before the duo were caught at the foot of the first ascent of the Alto del Vivero

Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) attacked on the Alto del Vivero with around 3.5km to the crest of the climb with no initial response, as Visma | Lease a Bike continued to set their tempo. With 2km to the summit, Santiago Buitrago launched an acceleration in an attempt to bridge across to Landa, and the Colombian was successful.

There were counter moves from Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarché-Wanty), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Victor Campernaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Louis Rouland (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Juan Guillermo Martinez (Picnic PostNL).

After all the efforts made earlier in the stage, Mads Pedersen remarkably launched a move in an attempt to bridge across to the chase group, with the intermediate sprint at the bottom of the descent, and was able to do so with Landa and Buitrago 40 seconds ahead. However, Visma remained consistent in the chase, and the gap stayed less than a minute. 

Pedersen picked up 15 points at the intermediate sprint behind the front duo. With 32km remaining, Landa was distanced from Buitrago, with what seemed to be issues with his back. Buitrago headed onto the second ascent of the Alto del Vivero with 40 seconds over the peloton, who had caught the Pedersen group, and it was UAE who led the peloton onto the climb, increasing the tempo significantly.

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked with 25.8km remaining, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) was quick to attack with a group of 20 riders or so able to follow, before a counter from Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe).

Almeida went once more as Buitrago was caught, with only Vingegaard, Ben Tullett (Visma | Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) able to follow with Pellizzari, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Matteo Jorgenson and Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) bridging across to leave a group of 12 riders in front at the summit of the Alto del Vivero. 

Shortly before the ascent of the Alto de Pike, race radio announced that “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.”

Vingegaard was well supported with a third of the front group consisting of Visma riders. The group swelled in size on the descent with a large group of chasers returning. 

Onto the Alto de Pike, and Pidcock made the first big move, which was followed by Vingegaard and Hindley before a gap opened between the wheel of the Brit and the red jersey. Eventually, Vingegaard was able to bridge across, but Pidcock made a second acceleration, and Vingegaard was unable to match it. 

It wasn’t until over the categorised summit that Vingegaard was able to bridge to Pidcock, and the duo worked well together on the descent and reached the 3km mark ahead of a group containing Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Jorgenson, Ciccone, and Hindley.