It's been an incredibly fraught edition of the Vuelta a España this year, 'the saddest Vuelta in history' according to Spanish newspaper AS, and one where political and military conflict far beyond the borders of Spain indirectly caused some of the defining images of the 2025 race.
On the one hand, the victory for Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) meant the double Tour de France winner could both take a hugely prestigious and challenging win, and simultaneously regain valuable additional momentum in his longer-term battle to take on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
