Jonas Vingegaard regained the red jersey after stage five of the Vuelta a España in a dramatic team time trial in which Israel Premier-Tech were delayed by pro-Palestinian protesters on the route.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG won the stage but Visma-Lease a Bike’s second-placed finish allowed Vingegaard to regain the lead from Groupama-FDJ’s David Gaudu.
Although team time trials are now quite rare on Grand Tours, the format is making a comeback, with the time for each team considered when the fourth rider crossed the line on the 24.1km stage in Figueres.
Gaudu was level on time with race favourite Vingegaard after stage four, but the Frenchman took the leader’s red jersey on countback. However, Visma-Lease a Bike turned the tables on Wednesday.
Team Emirates-XRG finished with a time of 25min 26sec, averaging nearly 57 km/h, while Visma-Lease a Bike finished 8sec behind. Groupama-FDJ could only manage ninth place, 24sec behind.
Vingegaard now holds an eight-second lead over the Team Emirates-XRG trio of Juan Ayuso, João Almeida and Marc Soler. Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone is 9sec back while Gaudu is 16sec behind in the general classification.
Israel-Premier Tech were stopped on the road by a group of protesters holding Palestinian flags, with half the team forced to a complete stop before they set off again.
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The protest cost them several seconds, with the team eventually finishing 19th, 54sec slower than Team Emirates-XRG.