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Protests at the Bilbao finish line of the Vuelta a España on Wednesday led organisers to neutralise stage 11 at the 3km to go mark, leaving the stage without a winner but that didn’t stop the GC battle from unfolding. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) held the red jersey he had recaptured the day before and even extended the gap to most of his rivals.
The one exception was Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) who attacked from the lead group on the final climb, the Alto de Pike, with 8.5km to go and shook off everyone with his powerful surge, sweeping up some bonus seconds in the process. Vingegaard was the only one who could fight his way back and the pair hit the all important 3km to go mark together, working to stretch the gap to the rest of the field.
João Almeida had been among the riders that were unsuccessful in their pursuit of Pidcock when he launched and the UAE Team Emirates rider paid a GC price. He came through the timing point ten seconds back in a group with Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall ( Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
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Almeida had been sitting 38 seconds behind Vingegaard at the end of stage 10 but when the bonus seconds from the stage were also added to the tally, that had extended to 50 seconds by the end of stage 11. Still, Almeida did move up a spot to second place overall given the earlier race leader Torstein Træen (Bahrain-Victorious), who lost red on stage 10, slipped back a further two spots to fourth overall.
As a result Pidcock also moved up to third overall, 56 seconds from red and just six seconds behind Almeida. Træen sits a further ten seconds back and then it is Gall in fifth, though the margin at that point has widened considerably with the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider 2:17 back from the race lead.
Jorgenson and Hindley’s position in that first chase group meant they also moved one slot up the rankings, in sixth at 2:26 back and seventh at 2:30, with the pair making the move at the expense of Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). Ciccone finished in the second chase group of four with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). As a result of their finish in that second chase group with Ciccone on Wednesday – at 24 seconds behind Vingegaard and Pidcock – Pellizzari, Riccitello and Bernal remained in ninth, tenth and 11th position overall.
The Vuelta a España continues on Thursday with a short but punchy 144.9km stage 12 through the winding lanes and backroads of Cantabria.
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Vuelta a España 2025 GC standings
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Vuelta a España 2025 Classifications
Here’s a rundown of all of the classifications at the Vuelta a España.
Maillot Rojo/Red Jersey – The red jersey is worn by the overall race leader on the general classification who has completed the stages so far in the lowest accumulated time.
Maillot Verde/Green Jersey – The green jersey is the points classification. Points are awarded to riders at the intermediate sprints and stage finishes. The rider with the most points leads the ranking.
Maillot de Lunares/Polka Dot Jersey – The blue and white polka dot jersey is the mountains classification. Points are awarded to the first riders over certain hills and climbs during the stage, with the hardest mountains giving the most points. Once again, the rider with the most points leads the ranking.
Maillot Blanco/White Jersey – The white jersey is the youth classification. It works the same way as the yellow jersey, but only riders aged 25 or under are eligible to win.
