GUIJUELO, Spain (AP) — Jasper Philipsen grabbed his third stage at the Spanish Vuelta on Friday while Jonas Vingegaard kept his overall lead before the race’s decisive mountain stage.
Philipsen beat the pack to the end of Stage 19, a 161-kilometer (100-mile) route from Rueda to Guijuelo across the plains of central Spain.
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Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen wins the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard celebrates at the podium his first overall position at the end of the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen celebrates at the podium after wining the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen wins the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The Belgian rider of Alpecin-Deceuninck has won three of the four bunch sprints at the end of flat stages in this edition of the Spanish Grand Tour.
Vingegaard holds a 44-second lead over Joao Almeida in the overall classification ahead of Saturday’s stage that finishes atop the beyond-category Bola del Mundo summit.
Race custom dictates that the rider who leads the classification after the second-to-last stage will go on to win the race. His rivals are supposed to not challenge him on the largely ceremonial arrival to Madrid on the final day.
On Friday, there were no significant pro-Palestinian protests like the ones that have disrupted the race this week.
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Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen wins the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard celebrates at the podium his first overall position at the end of the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen celebrates at the podium after wining the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Belgian cyclist Jasper Philipsen wins the nineteenth stage of the Spanish La Vuelta cycling race, from Rueda to Guijuelo, Spain, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
