{"id":120920,"date":"2025-09-05T14:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120920\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:54:08","slug":"spanish-minister-says-israeli-cycling-team-should-be-expelled-from-vuelta-after-protest-fraser-valley-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120920\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish minister says Israeli cycling team should be expelled from Vuelta after protest | Fraser Valley Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday\u2019s protest in the northern city of Bilbao targeted the Israel Premier Tech team while Israel continues its military invasion into Gaza<\/a> that has killed tens of thousands of civilians in retaliation for the Hamas attacks in October 2023.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The protest produced chaotic scenes of a crowd pushing against temporary metal barriers along the final kilometres of the course with police and security personnel holding them back. Many protestors carried Palestine flags and pro-Palestine signs.<\/p>\n

Race officials called off the stage about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the end of the circular route out of and into Bilbao. There was no stage winner.<\/p>\n

The team vows to keep racing.<\/p>\n

Canadian-Israeli entrepreneur Sylvan Adams is one of Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s owners, while former Canadian star rider Steve Bauer is the team\u2019s sporting manager.<\/p>\n

Immediately after the incident, Vuelta organizers issued a statement condemning the \u201cevents that took place\u201d while also backing the right to peaceful protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa Vuelta respects and defends the right to peaceful demonstration within the context of the event, but cannot tolerate any acts that put at risk the physical safety of the participants or any member of the race caravan,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Vuelta technical director Kiko Garcia, however, appeared to suggest that Israel Premier Tech should consider dropping out or for the UCI, cycling\u2019s governing body, to intervene, because there was a risk of more protests if it kept racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point someone will have to decide if we protect an international event like the Vuelta, or if we protect a team,\u201d Garc\u00eda said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone needs to try to find a solution, which for me right now is that the Israeli team realizes that by being here it doesn\u2019t help the safety of everyone else. But we can\u2019t make that decision, the team has to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel Premier Tech, however, stated it was not pulling out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny other course of action sets a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling \u2014 not only for Israel Premier Tech, but for all teams,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda also said that the Vuelta had told the UCI about the possibility of protests against Israel Premier Tech before the race began.<\/p>\n

UCI condemned the incident, saying that \u201ccycling in particular, has a role to play in bringing people together and overcoming barriers between them, and should under no circumstances be used as a tool for punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UCI declined Friday to comment on the minister\u2019s comments when asked by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian cause is backed by many Spaniards, including its left-wing government, which recognized a Palestinian state<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

Another protest in a rural area<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s stage, held in a rural area, went as planned without any more protests. A small, peaceful pro-Palestinian protest was held before Friday\u2019s 13th stage that started in Cabez\u00f3n de la Sal.<\/p>\n

Former Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard leads the three-week race.<\/p>\n

The Grand Tour ends in Madrid on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

With a file from The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n

AP cycling: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wednesday\u2019s protest in the northern city of Bilbao targeted the Israel Premier Tech team while Israel continues its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,85392,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-120920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-chilliwack-news-fraser-valley-abbotsford-weather-traffic-lower-mainland-fvt","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}