Sport and politics sometimes collide, and that is very much the case in Venezuela right now. Big time.
In case you just arrived from Jupiter, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, was arrested and taken out of the country during a coordinated operation carried out by the U.S. of A.
As Maduro now awaits his fate in the U.S., Venezuela has been thrown into just a bit of political uncertainty.
Back to bikin’, though. That uncertainty also hangs over the Vuelta al Táchira, which is scheduled to open the international road season this Friday, right in the middle of the national turmoil. The race is set to feature ten stages across western Venezuela. The start list is mainly made up of South American continental and club teams.
But…whether the race will actually go ahead as planned remains unclear.
According to Feltet, the organizers have been contacted directly and asked whether the race will still start on Friday. Rather than giving a clear answer, they pointed to a story published on the race’s official Instagram account on Monday. The post simply states that there are four days to go until the start of the race, without addressing the political situation.
But then there was a follow-up question from Feltet. The Danes asked whether this should be interpreted as confirmation that the race will proceed as scheduled. Apparently, this has so far gone unanswered.
However, the organizers have announced via Instagram that a press conference will be held on Wednesday, where full details of this year’s route are expected to be presented. That suggests preparations are continuing despite the instability surrounding the country. So…maybe?
But this raises a larger question. Will this affect other races in the region remains to be seen. There have already been reports that air travel has been affected. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio has (egads) missed the Palm Springs International Film Awards. Why? Because he was in St. Barthes, doing his thing. Thankfully, the young man sent a video message.
But back to bikin’ (again). There are a ton of races in the early season in the region, at various levels of the pro peloton. Could the latest development have a massive ramification?