Jonas Vingegaard celebrated his Vuelta a España victory with fellow riders, his teammates and Visma-Lease a Bike staff in a hotel carpark on Sunday night, enjoying a moment of simple happiness and celebration after three weeks of hard racing.
The final stage of the Vuelta was stopped by pro-Palestine protests in Madrid. Spanish police were unable to control the protesters as they invaded the city circuit and so the stage was ended before the finishing circuits and the podium ceremony was also cancelled.
Vingegaard had shown his understanding for the pro-Palestine protests but, like many riders, had called for peaceful protest.
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The improvised podium ceremony came about after Visma-Lease a Bike, Q36.5, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Lidl-Trek wondered how to celebrate their Vuelta success in the absence of the traditional podium ceremony in central Madrid.
A race back drop was found and a podium created out of cooler boxes, with music played, and team staff congratulated the riders.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) joined Vingegaard on the 'podium' with other moments of celebration for green points jersey winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), king of the mountains Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and best young rider white jersey Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech).
The UAE celebrated winning the team classification and the Visma riders and staff posed for a group photograph as usually happens for a Grand Tour podium ceremony.
There was a clear feeling of disappointment for Vingegaard as he took his maiden Vuelta victory, but he also found fun in the riders' salvaged celebrations.
“It’s a pity that such a moment of eternity was taken from us. I was looking forward to celebrating this overall win with my team and the fans," the Dane said in a statement via his Visma team.
"Everyone has the right to protest, but it’s a shame that it has to happen here and prevents us from finishing the race."
"It's a fun podium and in a way probably more special than anything else I've tried. The whole day has been surreal," Vingegaard told Danish television channel TV2 who captured the moment of the improvised podium.
"It's a shame that it's under these circumstances, but it's great that we could still do just a little bit."
Visma was keen to celebrate their latest Grand Tour success. They won the Giro d'Italia with Simon Yates, the Tour de France Femmes with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, and Vingegaard was also second to Tadej Pogačar in the Tour de France after another intense battle between the two.
"I’m super proud of this overall win, my first Vuelta and the third Grand Tour of my career," Vingegaard said.
"It’s been three tough weeks. I felt very strong in the first week and managed to win twice. Afterwards I had a more difficult phase, but luckily I came back during the final weekend. My stage win on Bola del Mundo gave me great satisfaction. It was a beautiful way to crown this Vuelta.”
Visma team manager Richard Plugge was in Madrid to see Vingegaard and his teammates win the Vuelta. The Dutch team has now nine Grand Tours and five of the last seven editions of the men's Vuelta.
Plugge celebrated, but called for the riders to be protected when there are protests like the ones that disrupted multiple days of the Vuelta.
"Above all, I am very happy with and proud of this overall win. It’s sad that we and the fans were denied a beautiful finale in the heart of Madrid. We will celebrate the red jersey with our team in our own way and honour this fantastic achievement," Plugge said.
"Nowadays, sport is increasingly being used as a platform to address social issues.
"We must realize that sport is essentially about connection. It can build bridges and foster mutual understanding. But the participants must be protected: they cannot become victims of this societal debate. That debate must always remain outside the athletes’ arena.
"Athletes should be free to fight their battles on the field of play, in our case, on the road. Otherwise, the very essence of sport as a unifying force is at risk."
