The inside story of the Vuelta a España's cursed flight: 'It was clear things were not OK'

How a post-stage flight turned disastrously wrong for seven teams and its staff

Vueling
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Shortly after 9pm on Sunday, September 3, just hours after stage nine of the Vuelta a España, a chartered flight carrying seven teams and members of the race organisation left the city of Murcia. The riders and other passengers, however, didn’t arrive at their destination of Valladolid until after 3am, due to heavy rain, wind and a thunder and lightning storm causing a mid-flight diversion to Madrid. 

This is the inside story of the cursed flight to round off an ill-fated first week of the year’s final Grand Tour.

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Chris Marshall-Bell

A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and long reads across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013. In 2024 he released a seven-part podcast documentary, Ghost in the Machine, about motor doping in cycling.

Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains. He lives in Valencia, Spain.