Tacks reported on El Bartolo descent during Vuelta stage 6
Spanish media reported tacks on the road on the descent towards Castelló during Thursday's stage 6.
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Tacks were reported on the descent from the Puerto El Bartolo towards Castelló during stage 6 of the Vuelta a España, raising concerns ahead of one of the fastest sections of the finale.
Eurosport's Laura Meseguer relayed the warning on social media, crediting fellow journalist Silvia Tirado for the information.
The report came on the 177.5 kilometre stage from Alcossebre to Castelló, which starts on the Mediterranean coast before heading inland through the province of Castellón and returning towards Benicàssim for the decisive final climbs.
El Bartolo is the last and hardest ascent of the day. The category 1 climb measures 9.4km at 7.1% and includes a 1.9km gravel section averaging almost 12%.
Its summit comes with 20.7 kilometres remaining. From there, the riders face a fast and technical descent towards Castelló before reaching roughly nine kilometres of flatter roads into the finish.
It remains unclear whether the tacks were placed deliberately.
Similar incidents have occurred before at Grand Tours.
During stage 2 of the 2023 Vuelta a España, around 15 riders suffered punctures after tacks were reported on the descent of the Coll d'Estenalles towards Talamanca. Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, Geraint Thomas and Juan Ayuso were among the riders affected.
One of the most serious cases came on stage 14 of the 2012 Tour de France, when tacks scattered near the summit of the Mur de Péguère caused around 30 punctures. Defending champion Cadel Evans punctured several times, prompting race leader Bradley Wiggins to slow the peloton and allow affected riders to return. Robert Kišerlovski crashed after puncturing and broke his collarbone.
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