"We wanted to come here to see the race, but there was nothing to be done." In these few words, Marie and Pierre, two of the dozens of spectators suddenly crammed into the Vuelta a España press room seeking refuge from a spectacularly intense rain and hailstorm, summed up theirs - and everybody else's - predicament.
It was clear that, under these circumstances and with the Vuelta's stage 3 cancelled due to the weather, larger questions like rider and spectator safety and wellbeing had abruptly become much more important than 'just' a bike race.
