The Spanish nationwide police service have arrested 4 individuals who have been planning to drop 400 litres of unidentified oil on the highway throughout stage 3 of the Vuelta a España.
In a video posted to the Policía Nacional Twitter account, officers are proven dismantling a set-up of drums and tubes that had been positioned on a bridge above the stage 3 route from Súria to Andorra.
“With this method they meant to sabotage yesterday’s stage of #LaVuelta23,” the Tweet alongside the video learn.
“Two drums with 400 litres of liquid that they meant to throw on the highway because the peloton handed. 4 individuals arrested red-handed in Lleida.”
The video additionally reveals 4 individuals being led into what seems to be the police headquarters in Lleida, simply west of the stage begin in Súria.
A separate assertion from the police, reported by Reuters, stated that the liquid was “just like motor oil”. Reuters additionally reported {that a} “police supply” stated the people have been members of a Catalan independence group.
The 4 individuals have been reportedly launched and ordered to remain 500m away from the race, and are being investigated for “crimes towards highway security, the surroundings, being a part of a prison group and public dysfunction”.
Had it not been stopped, this may have been the second incidence of sabotage to befall this Vuelta a España, after drawing pins have been thrown on the highway throughout stage 2, inflicting a number of riders to puncture.
These incidents are separate from the much less deliberate dramas which have surrounded the beginning of the race, from poor climate and visibility through the stage 1 time trial, heavy rain and a neutralisation on stage 2, and Remco Evenepoel’s post-win crash within the congested end zone of stage 3.
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