My day at the Vuelta by Orlagh Kinahan

On the occasion of La Vuelta 25 passing through the school's surroundings, some of our students had the opportunity to experience it from the inside, becoming reporters for a day, to see and tell everything that goes on behind the scenes of an international event of this kind.

Orlagh Kinahan, Secondary student

For most people, whenever they think of the Vuelta it's about the bikes - no one pays attention to the people behind the scenes. For stage 16, I got to go backstage and see for myself what went on behind all the polished screen footage you watch on tv.

I was only a reporter for one day and by the end of it I was exhausted. However, the Vuelta staff do that every day for three weeks. In the morning, the Vuelta staff set up all the equipment for the day: the barriers, the VIP section, the cameras and microphones for interviews. It takes several hours to make sure everything is working. The second the riders cross the finish line, the staff have to pack up everything again and head off to the next destination. The distance between the two places can sometimes be over 300 km – so they get to the hotels very late, even as late as 23:00. When I was asking questions, the funniest reply I got was when I asked the Telefonica operator what their favourite part of the day was, they said getting to hotel room and having a shower.

Stage 16 was an emotional rollercoaster of events, with a 17-man breakaway attacking only 50 km into the race. As the stage went on, it was diminished to just two riders: Egan Bernal (INEOS grenadier's total energies) and Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step). In the end it was all down to a sprint finish and Egan Bernal just beat Mikel Landa for the victory.

This was an exciting win for Bernal, as Stage 16 was the first stage that he had won since 2021. In January 2022, while on a training ride, he had a very severe crash. The accident left him with a punctured lung and twenty fractures. Egan Bernal was at the peak of his career and was one of the favourites to win the tour de France in 2022 – however after the crash Doctors said he could be paralysed and never cycle again. Much to people’s amazement, he made a full recovery and was back cycling again by the end of 2022. So, this win proved everyone who doubted him wrong.

The stage was very exciting. However, the end was unexpectedly moved from a short incline and summit finish to a random point 8 km earlier in the stage route. A call came in to the riders at 20 km to go, saying the finish had been suddenly moved as the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) deemed it unsafe for riders to finish the stage.

They couldn’t use the original route as hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters had completely blocked the roads from all sides. The protesters targeted this event as there is a team competing called Israel Premier Tech. While they are not owned directly by Israel, the team owner has very close connections to the Israeli government. The fact that Israel is on the jerseys is seen by protesters as an advertisement of Israel. Most riders, team staff and fans are in two minds about it. Even Jonas Vingegaard – two-time champion of the Tour de France and now winner of the 2025 Vuelta – has expressed sympathy and support for the protesters but he also stated that he wants to finish the race.

I really enjoyed getting to see behind the scenes and am grateful that the school gave me the opportunity to be one of the student reporters. I enjoyed every second of the day!