Sawt Falasteen - Almeida wins Vuelta 'queen stage' ahead of leader Vingegaard amid protests

Almeida pipped Vingegaard on the line with Australian Jai Hindley crossing in third place, 28 seconds off the pace after the 202.7-kilometre run between Cabezon de la Sal and the Angliru climb, a steep mountain road in Asturias in northern Spain.

Visma-Lease a Bike rider Vingegaard leads Team UAE's Almeida by 46sec in the overall standings with Britain's Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 third at 2min 18sec.

The race was once again targeted by pro-Palestinian protestors targeting the Israel-Premier Tech team.

Some 12 kilometres from the finish, as the climb to Angliru began, several protesters waving Palestinian flags interrupted the lead riders.

The stoppage, which lasted a few seconds until security forces intervened, affected the progress of the breakaway riders -- Ecuadorian Jefferson Cepeda, Luxembourger Bob Jungels, and Kazakh Nico Vinokurov -- who at that point had a three-minute lead over the peloton.

Almeida and Vingegaard pulled ahead with three kilometres left to reach the summit, after shaking off Hindley and American Sepp Kuss.

Vingegaard stayed behind the Portuguese rider for the remainder of the race.

The longest stage of this year's race also took its toll on the peloton with Spaniard Pablo Castrillo, winner of two stages in the last edition, tearfully exiting the race after a crash on the Alto La Mozqueta descent.

Saturday's stage will be short, covering 135.9 km between Aviles and La Farrapona, featuring two first-category climbs, making it ideal for experienced climbers.

D.Khalil--SF-PST