Mario Aparicio, the Spanish professional cyclist who was disqualified from a race in China this week after posting what social media branded a “derogatory” pig emoji on Strava, has now been banned from entering the country entirely, according to reports in Spain.
Aparicio, who rides for second-tier squad Burgos Burpellet BH, was competing in the 2.2 ranked Tour of Mentougou earlier this week when, after finishing the first stage, he captioned his since-deletd Strava file with two emojis, one featuring the Chinese flag and the other a pig.
A social media storm then erupted as Chinese cycling fans criticised Aparicio for what they believe was a “derogatory” post aimed at people in China, with the Spaniard even receiving death threats according to his Burgos Burpellet BH squad.
Mario Aparicio disqualified from Chinese stage race for posting pig emoji on Strava (credit: Mario Aparicio/Strava)
The potentially offensive implications of Aparicio’s use of the pig emoji (the Spanish word ‘cochino’ used in slang as a derogatory term for dirty or filthy) was first picked up on by Chinese people living in Spain, sparking the outrage over the 25-year-old’s Strava caption and leading to a widespread call for the cyclist to make a public apology “for his insults towards China”.
While Burgos defended their rider, claiming that his post was simply a reference to his teammate who won the opening stage, the organisers of the Tour of Mentougou said that Aparicio’s post “violated the spirit of sportsmanship, damaged the image of the race, and caused a serious negative impact”, and disqualified from the race.
While Aparicio’s absence didn’t seem to hinder Burgos too – the team went on to win another stage and the race overall, filling the entire GC podium, while Aparicio himself finished 25th at the Giro del Veneto in Italy on Wednesday – things have since escalated following their rider’s return to Europe.
According to Bilbao-based newspaper El Correo, the Chinese authorities have moved to ban Aparicio from entering the country for life.
That ban, if confirmed, means the 25-year-old will not even be able to stop at airports in China, posing a serious threat to his racing career and presenting logistical headaches for his team, with Burgos rely heavily on Asian races to earn UCI rankings points.
During the last three seasons, Aparicio has taken part in at least one stage race on Chinese soil, even winning a stage, the mountains classification, and finishing fifth overall at the Tour of Qinghai Lake last year.
Mario Aparicio in the breakaway at the 2025 Vuelta (credit: ASO/Unipublic/Antonio Baixauli/Cxcling Creative Agency)
Following Aparicio’s disqualification from the Tour of Mentougou, Burgos defended his post, which have since been deleted from his Strava account, saying: “Mario posted the pig emoji as a joke toward his teammate who had won the stage, something without malice and unrelated to the Chinese people.
“[It is] just an unfortunate coincidence. However, people saw it and took it out of context, misinterpreting it since the Chinese flag appeared next to it.
“A large number of comments began to be posted on his Strava profile and on Chinese social media with insults towards the cyclist and even many death threats, a very crazy situation.”
Despite Aparicio’s disqualification, Burgos Burpellet BH dominated the three-day race, taking a clean sweep of the overall podium and winning the points, mountains, and team classification, with Clément Alleno triumphing on the general classification ahead of teammates Carlos Garcia Pierna and Antonio Angulo.
Aparicio has spent his entire career with the ProTour Burgos team and made his grand tour debut at the Vuelta a España last month, appearing in several breakaways and finishing 91st overall.
Along with his success at the 2024 Tour of Qinghai Lake, he has also won the mountains jersey at the Tour de Langkawi and finished in the top 10 overall at the Presidential Tour of Turkey.
The 25-year-old Spaniard isn’t the first professional cyclist to be booted from a race in China after causing offence online, however.
In 2023, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty removed Madis Mihkels and Gerben Thijsen the day before the start of the Tour of Guangxi after Thijsen filmed his teammate making a racist ‘slanted eyes’ gesture on Instagram.
Both the team and the riders subsequently apologised and donated to the team’s junior academy who they mentored.