In the closing kilometres of stage 13 of this year's Vuelta a España, a dog tied to a chair ran out into the road. Thankfully, the incident didn't cause any problems, and neither any riders nor the animal got hurt. But in the most volatile edition of the Vuelta in decades, where for two weeks the possibility that the entire event could grind to a halt has been constantly on the table, the misfortune of one hapless canine briefly sparked rose-tinted memories.
Suddenly, it seemed, we were cast back to previous editions, where protests were so rare it felt like the only regular off-road incidents affecting the Vuelta were stray animals and the odd confused, over-enthusiastic or inebriated spectator ending up colliding in one form or another with the race.
