shortened

Italy’s Filippo Ganna won a shortened individual time trial on stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana as Britain’s Tom Pidcock retained his third place in the overall standings.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Joao Almeida, who is second in the general classification, took 10 seconds off the advantage of overall race leader Jonas Vingegaard.

The stage was reduced from 27.2km to 12.2km to ensure “greater protection” for riders because of security concerns resulting from a series of pro-Palestinian protests during the three-week race.

Police numbers were also ramped up, with hundreds of protestors waving flags along the route and whistling riders from Israel-Premier Tech.

And French news agency AFP reported that two protestors were detained for trying to jump over barriers.

Two-time world time trial champion Ganna, 29, lived up to his billing as the favourite, with the Ineos Grenadiers rider edging out Australian Jay Vine by a second in Valladolid.

“Obviously, with the news of the change in the parcours [route] last night it was a bit strange, but I tried to do the best today,” said Ganna, who was 10 seconds quicker than anyone else over the final four kilometres.

“The first part I didn’t find the correct rhythm and in the final I tried to push over without thinking of the numbers. I am really happy for today.”

While Ganna’s fast finish ensured he pipped Vine, all eyes were focused on the battle at the top of the general classification.

Almeida finished strongly to put time into Visma-Lease A Bike’s Vingegaard and the Portuguese rider now sits 40 seconds behind the Dane with two competitive stages of racing remaining.

Q36.5 Pro Cycling’s Pidcock finished 29 seconds behind Ganna but managed to extend his advantage over Australian Jai Hindley in the battle for the final podium spot by three seconds.

With a relatively flat 161.9km run from Rueda to Guijuelo scheduled for Friday, it raises the prospect of a huge day in the mountains on Saturday’s penultimate stage with a summit finish on the Bola del Mundo.

France’s Egan Bernal won stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana that had to be shortened by eight kilometres because of pro-Palestinian protests.

Protests aimed at the Israel-Premier Tech team have disrupted several stages of this year’s race, including stage 11 which was shortened without a winner last week.

However, on Tuesday, the race directors decided the winner and took times early after “a big protest at three km before the finish line”.

The stage was scheduled to run along a 168km stretch from Poio to Castro de Herville before it was cut short.

In Sunday’s stage 15, a protestor caused a minor crash that involved Spain’s Javier Romo, who abandoned this year’s race on Tuesday saying he was “not feeling very well, mentally or physically”.

The 26-year-old Movistar rider had suffered “only bruises” during the fall and was able to complete the race on Sunday but quit with 80km to go in stage 16.

The team time trial in stage five was also disrupted when the Israel-Premier Tech team, owned by Israeli-Canadian businessman Sylvan Adams, were stopped on the road by a group of protesters holding Palestinian flags.

Bernal, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, secured the victory on stage 16 in three hours, 35 minutes and 10 seconds, finishing ahead of Spanish rider Mikel Landa.

France’s Brieuc Rolland took third place while British rider Finlay Pickering, 22, finished eighth.

Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard remains top of the general classification with Joao Almeida 48 seconds behind, while Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock sits third.

Friday will see another medium mountain stage stretching 143km from O Barco de Valdeorras to Ponferrada.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.