THE race director of the Vuelta a España – Spain’s equivalent of the Tour de France – has vowed to file a legal complaint after a group of pro-Palestine protesters disrupted a time-trial stage by blocking the path of an Israeli cycling team.
“We are going to file a complaint, we cannot allow what happened. When it is protested with violence, it ceases to be a just cause,” said Javier Guillen following the incident, which took place during Wednesday’s fifth stage team time-trial.
All eight riders from the Israel-Premier Tech team were forced to slow down after a group of five-to-ten protesters, displaying pro-Palestine flags and banners, blocked the road early in the team’s race against the clock in Figueres, Catalunya.
One message written in Catalan read: “La neutraltat es complicitat – Boicot a Israel!” (Neutrality is conflict – Boycott Israel!)
The disruption proved costly for the team, who finished 54 seconds behind the winning UAE Team Emirates-XRG outfit in 19th place.
In a statement posted on social media, the Israel-Premier Tech team said: “Israel-Premier Tech respects everyone’s right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to protest peacefully, but we absolutely condemn the dangerous acts of the protesters on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España which not only compromised the safety of our riders, race personnel, but the protesters themselves.
“The team continues to work with race organisers and relevant authorities to ensure our safety at the Vuelta a España and all races, and ensure any protests do not impact our safety, nor our right to race.”
The Israel-Premier Tech have faced increased scrutiny since the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas terrorists murdered over 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023.
According to figures from the territory’s health ministry, at least 62,819 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict.
Last month, protesters called for the team, owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire businessman Sylvan Adams, to be kicked out of the Tour de France.
In May, a protester carrying a banner reading ‘Israel out of the Giro d’Italia’ was charged with assault after almost causing a major crash when blocking cyclists during the sixth stage of Italy’s Grand Tour, prompting the team to invest in increased security.
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Israel-Premier Tech have no official connection to the state of Israel, although their owner is an outspoken supporter of the country’s military action in Gaza.
Only one of the team’s cyclists is Israeli, 24-year-old Nadav Raisberg.
Chris Froome, the British four-time winner of the Tour de France, races for Israel-Premier Tech, although he is not participating in this year’s Vuelta.
The 40-year-old was airlifted to a French hospital on Wednesday after suffering a fractured spine and five broken ribs in a serious training crash.
The accident could spell an end to the seven-time Grand Tour winner’s illustrious career, with rumours swirling that the Kenyan-born racer’s contract with Israel-Premier Tech will not be renewed at the end of the year.
Several cyclists to recently leave the Israel-Premier Tech team have been outspoken in their criticism of the team.
Last week, Canadian rider Derek Gee left the team, citing ‘certain issues’ that made his position in the squad ‘untenable’.
Danish star Jakob Fuglsang, who retired earlier this year after three-and-a-half years with the team, said it was ‘definitely nicer to ride without an Israel logo than with it’.
Alessandro de Marchi, meanwhile, told The Observer he was ‘happy and relieved’ to no longer race for the squad after a two-year spell, calling on the UCI, the sport’s governing body, to ‘show that as a cycling world we care about human rights and international law violations’.
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