Tacks have reportedly been found on the final descent of Thursday’s Vuelta a España stage, sparking safety fears ahead of what looks set to be a technical, fast downhill section.
An image of one tack, piercing what appears to be an amateur cyclist’s tyre, was posted on social media by Eurosport’s Laura Meseguer, who was sent the photo by fellow Spanish cycling journalist, and former pro, Silvia Tirado.
The tack (though Meseguer appeared to refer to multiple “tacks” in her post) was discovered on the descent of the Puerto El Bartolo, the final climb of today’s 177.5km sixth stage from Alcossebre to Castelló, in the province of Castellón, the north of Spain’s Valencian Community.
At 9.4km long and with an average gradient of 7.1 per cent, the category one ascent of El Bartolo is the toughest test of Thursday’s stage, and features a 1.9km stretch of gravel averaging almost 12 per cent, meaning it is likely to draw out the main GC contenders and possibly provoke an attack from runaway race leader Tadej Pogačar.
The likelihood of another Pogačar salvo is strengthened by the climb’s proximity to the finish – after the top, there are only 20.7 kilometres remaining to the finish in Castelló.
The first 11km of the run-in, however, is on a fast, technical descent, the section where this morning’s tack was discovered.
> Tour de France hit by tack attack, Lilian Calmejane calls out “morons” who endangered riders
It is currently unclear whether the tack was placed on the road deliberately in a bid to cause punctures in a presumably targeted attack. Cycling does of course have a history of nail-based sabotage, including at the Vuelta.
During the 2023 Vuelta’s second stage, around 15 riders, including Geraint Thomas, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard, punctured due to tacks on the descent of the Coll d’Estenalles towards Talamanca, near Barcelona.
Earlier that summer, the Tour de France’s visit to the Basque Country was marred by another tack attack, with several riders experiencing punctures during stage two from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sébastián, Intermarché–Circus–Wanty rider Lilian Calmejane taking to social media to criticise the “human bullshit” who left the nails strewn across the road.
Away from Spain, tacks were also reported on a cobbled sector at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix, cycling journalist and commentator José Been, riding the course ahead of the race, spotting the items strewn across the pavé.
And at the 2022 Tour, fans on the Col d’Aubisque found carpet tacks near the summit ahead of the next day’s stage, removing them before they had a chance to cause any damage.
In perhaps the most serious incident in recent memory, tacks were strewn across the road on the descent of the Mur de Péguère at the 2012 Tour de France, with yellow jersey-wearing Bradley Wiggins and defending champion Cadel Evans among the 30 riders from a GC group of 50 who suffered punctures, leading to the race being neutralised.
