Sawt Falasteen - Ganna takes Vuelta stage 18 time trial victory, two protestors arrested

Race organisers said Wednesday the route was being cut down by 15 kilometres to 12.2km, after pro-Palestinian protests hit several stages of cycling's third-biggest Grand Tour.

Police numbers were ramped up in Valladolid and two protestors were detained for trying to jump over barriers, government delegation sources told AFP.

There was a strong pro-Palestinian presence with hundreds of demonstrators waving flags along the route and whistling riders from Israel-Premier Tech, whose presence they are mainly protesting, but racing was not affected.

During stages 11 and 16 strong protests led to the finish line being moved during the stage to protect riders.

General classification leader Jonas Vingegaard retained the red jersey but lost 10 seconds to second-placed Joao Almeida. The Dane now leads overall by 40 seconds.

Ineos Grenadiers rider Ganna posted an early benchmark of 13 minutes on the dot, which few threatened until Jay Vine hit the road.

The Australian finished one second behind his Italian counterpart, with Almeida taking third on the podium.

It was Ganna's second career Vuelta stage win and the ninth overall at a Grand Tour.

"The change of (route) was a little bit strange, but I tried to do the best today," said Ganna.

Vingegaard came in ninth and looked exhausted at the finish.

"Pretty happy with how it went today... I'm still in the lead, there are two stages left," said Vingegaard, referring to Friday and Saturday, with Sunday's final stage ceremonial for general classification riders.

"I did the best I could... just a pity it was not the (original) 27km," said Almeida.

"We can be pretty satisfied with the outcome, I felt quite strong."

Antonio Tiberi, usually a strong time-trialist, did not push himself to stay fresh for the days ahead to help Bahrain Victorious team-mate Torstein Traen finish in the top 10 of the general classification.

- Heightened security -

Stage 19 on Friday is a flat 162km-ride from Rueda to Guijuelo, before the likely decisive last mountain stage on Saturday.

Sunday's final stage, which ends in Madrid, is another potential security risk, with policing reinforced in the Spanish capital in preparation.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's leftist coalition government has taken one of Europe's strongest pro-Palestinian stances, straining ties with Israel.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive in October 2023 in retaliation for an unprecedented cross-border attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's bombardment has killed at least 64,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations says are reliable.

Spanish sports minister Pilar Alegria said Wednesday protests were "logical" and Israeli sports teams should be banned from competing, as Russian sides were after the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022," she told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

W.Mansour--SF-PST