Almeida beats Vingegaard to the top of the Spanish Vuelta's L’Angliru summit

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L'ANGLIRU, Spain (AP) — João Almeida held off race leader Jonas Vingegaard to claim victory atop the Spanish Vuelta’s classic L’Angliru summit amid more pro-Palestinian protests on Friday.

The race's two strongest riders were left alone for the final brutal kilometer when the gradient rose above 20% and the rest of the field wilted on the narrow cut-backs in Spain's green north.

Almeida led Vingegaard up the final push and the Portuguese rider stayed ahead of the Tour de France champion when the two sprinted to the finish line over the final half-kilometer atop the summit.

“This is a special one,” Almeida said. “I just did the best I could. I went over the final kilometers at the limit."

It was a sixth stage win at the Vuelta for UAE Emirates, which is without top rider Tadej Pogačar.

The bonus for winning the stage let Almeida shave Vingegaard's lead to 46 seconds in the general classification after 13 stages of the 21-stage race.

The 202-kilometer (125-mile) stage from Cabezón de la Sal took riders over two category-one ascents before the final push up the beyond-category L’Angliru. Almeida took nearly five hours.

L’Agliru is one of the most beloved ascents of the Vuelta by cycling fans. Rising above the green hills of the Asturias region, riders pedal up 12 kilometers at an average gradient of 10%. This was the 10th time the summit hosted a Vuelta finish line.

“I would have loved to have won but I know that João deserved to win,” Vingegaard, the Visma-Lease a Bike leader, said. “It’s the L’Angliru. It’s a very special summit.”

The Vuelta was shaken on Wednesday when organizers cut short a stage after pro-Palestinian protestors angered by Israel's military operation in Gaza threatened to invade the course near the finish line in Bilbao. They were targeting the participation of Israel Premier Tech in the race.

Thursday’s stage went as planned without any protests.

But Friday’s stage was briefly interrupted when a small group of protestors ran onto the narrow country road and impeded the then three stage leaders — none of whom belonged to Israel Premier Tech — from advancing. Police removed them within seconds.

A small pro-Palestinian protest was also held before the stage. It did not affect the riders. There was also a smattering of Palestinian flags mixed in with other nationalities and regions of Spain in the crowd that lined the final section of the climb.

Two riders had a scare when passing through the village of Turón when they had to avoid hitting a dog that ran onto the road. The dog was dragging a plastic chair that its leash was tied to.

Saturday offers another demanding mountain trek of 136 kilometers (84 miles) from Aviles to the category-one summit atop La Farrapona.

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling