LOS CORRALES DE BUELNA, Spain (AP) — The Spanish Vuelta restarted without incident on Thursday, when Juan Ayuso earned a second stage victory, a day after organizers cut a stage short when pro-Palestinian protestors interrupted the racing in Bilbao.
Wednesday’s protest had targeted the Israel Premier Tech team while Israel continues its military invasion into Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of civilians in retaliation for the Hamas attacks in October 2023.
The protest produced chaotic scenes of a crowd pushing against temporary metal barriers along the final kilometers of the course with police and security personnel holding them back. Many protestors carried Palestine flags and pro-Palestine signs. Race officials called off the stage about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the end of the circular route out of and in to Bilbao.
Israel Premier Tech said it was not pulling out.
“Any other course of action sets a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling — not only for Israel Premier Tech, but for all teams,” it said.
The Palestinian cause is backed by many Spaniards, including its left-wing government.
Bilbao is an industrial city in Spain’s Basque Country, a region known for political strife and protest due to its now dormant separatist movement — as well as for its love for cycling.
The Vuelta stayed away from the Basque Country for more than three decades until its return in 2011. That hiatus came after supporters of Basque independence caused a Vuelta stage to be canceled in 1978 when they rolled logs onto the course.
Normality returned to the race Thursday in the green hills of Spain’s northern Cantabria region. The 12th stage started in costal town of Laredo, about 60 kilometers (47 miles) west of Bilbao along the Atlantic coast.
The 22-year-old Ayuso, one of Spain's top cycling talents, has maintained his superb form despite an ugly, mid-race breakup with his UAE Emirates team.
His second win came just three days after his team made the surprising announcement that it had reached an agreement with Ayuso to terminate his contact three years ahead of time at the end of the season. UAE's star rider is Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar, who is sitting the Vuelta out.
Team CEO Mauro Gianetti said that he wanted to let Ayuso go because “our sporting project has always been focused on continuity, group harmony, and building a winning team.”
Those comments did not sit well with Ayuso, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico with his team in March. The Spaniard responded that the team had “been disrespectful and wanted to damage my image.”
But the spat has not impacted his performance. Ayuso attacked on a climb Thursday, dropping the other breakaway riders except for Javier Romo, who he then beat in a sprint to the finish line of the 145-kilometer (90-mile) route.
Ayuso had entered the race among a select group of riders considered to be title contenders, but his shot at vying for the title evaporated when he lost 10 minutes on the sixth stage. The next day he responded with a stage win in the Pyrenees.
Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard kept his lead of the three-week race.
AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
People holding Palestinian flags sit on the street after disrupting the eleventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, from Bilbao to Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
People hold Palestinian flags as they try to disrupt the eleventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, from Bilbao to Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
Riders of the Israel Premier Tech team compete as people holding Palestinian flags try to disrupt the eleventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, from Bilbao to Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was meeting the French, German and British leaders in London on Monday as Kyiv’s European allies try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in thorny talks on a U.S.-backed plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to gather with Zelenskyy, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence.
Zelenskyy said late Sunday that his talks with European leaders this week in London and Brussels will focus on security, air defense and long-term funding for Ukraine’s war effort. The leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again.
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration’s peace proposal.
Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that talks had been “substantive” and that National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were traveling back to Europe to brief him.
A major sticking point in the proposal is the suggestion Ukraine must cede control of its eastern Donbas region to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of its territory. Ukraine and its European allies have balked at the idea of handing over land.
In an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, President Donald Trump appeared frustrated with Zelenskyy, claiming the Ukrainian leader “hasn’t yet read the proposal.”
“Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it," Trump said before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. "His people love it, but he hasn't read it."
Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayers’ money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to the nearly four-year conflict.
The European talks follow the publication of a new U.S. national security strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the document, which spells out the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.
The document released Friday by the White House said the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”
The document also says NATO must not be “a perpetually expanding alliance,” echoing another complaint of Russia’s. It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding U.S. allies in Europe, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to migration.
Starmer’s government has declined to comment on the American document, saying it is a matter for the U.S. government.
As diplomatic efforts continued, Russian forces continued to assault Ukraine over the weekend. At least four people were killed in drone and missile strikes on Sunday, while Moscow continues to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter sets in.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses destroyed 67 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday. The drones were shot down over 11 Russian regions, it said.
Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Dec. 1, 2025 before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a car in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
