The Visma-Lease a Bike Team was not happy with what happened yesterday in Bilbao, when, due to a group of pro-Palestinian protesters, the race was canceled and there was no winner. Jonas Vingegaard and Tom Pidcock were in a breakaway and one of them would have won at the Bilbao finish line, but unfortunately, no one will ever know who would have taken the victory.

In the Visma-Lease a Bike Team, what happened during the eleventh stage left a bitter taste, not only because Vingegaard did not win, but because the riders could have been at risk today. Fortunately, the police kept the situation under control, but the riders were stopped three kilometers from the finish.

The CEO of Visma-Lease a Bike, Richard Plugge, expressed regret for the incidents that occurred during the stage and wanted to express his disappointment through an official statement. "It is truly deplorable that such a decision was necessary to ensure the safety of the riders. Everyone has the right to protest, but it should never put others in danger. As a team, we do our job by giving our best every day and fighting for victory. We expect the police and race organization to do their job to ensure the safety of the riders and a Fair race. We urge once again for all spectators to do everything possible to ensure the safety of our riders."

At the Bilbao finish line, the images were striking, and when the group of protesters tried to enter the race course near the finish line, in addition to the police and race organization personnel, some photographers on the course and members of the public also intervened who understood that the situation could become dangerous when the riders passed.

Morkov, the sports director of Visma-Lease a Bike who was in the team car following the race, also expressed his disappointment.
"The information from the organizers came quickly and was very clear, so we received a clear communication. We communicated to the riders what was established by the organizers; it is not up to us to say what is wrong and what is right, but we further communicated to the riders what happened," Morkov explained. "We received the news on the flat section, before they passed the Alta de Pike, we received the news on the radio and then we communicated to the riders what we were told. We would have wanted to race for victory, but as I said, we all saw the images broadcast on television, and so it went, but we will immediately try to seek victory again."