{"id":111783,"date":"2025-09-03T15:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/111783\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T15:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:25:07","slug":"we-just-want-to-race-riders-demand-tighter-security-after-protesters-halt-vuelta-vuelta-a-espana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/111783\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We just want to race\u2019: riders demand tighter security after protesters halt Vuelta | Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Professional Cyclists\u2019 Association has demanded better security at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> after protesters disrupted stages in recent days, with one rider crashing when demonstrators ran on to the road.<\/p>\n

The CPA expressed concern about rider safety after incidents during stage 10 on Tuesday and stage 11 on Wednesday, as well as the team time trial last week when protesters holding Palestinian flags<\/a> stopped the Israel-Premier Tech team.<\/p>\n

As stage 11 got under way in Bilbao on Wednesday, the race was stopped in the neutral zone after protesters carrying a banner gathered on the road before they were ushered to the side by police officers.<\/p>\n

The CPA said that \u201ceveryone has the right to protest\u201d but not at the expense of athletes who are simply doing their job. \u201cIt is unacceptable that associations, whatever their nature or motivations, should allow themselves to compromise the safety and physical integrity of athletes on the road,\u201d the CPA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCycling is a demanding sport that requires total dedication and superhuman effort from riders. They face extreme physical challenges on a daily basis, and it is unacceptable that external threats should add to these difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CPA will never tolerate irresponsible and dangerous actions by a minority that endanger the lives of our members.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cyclists\u2019 association also requested Spanish security services to \u201cdo everything in their power\u201d to ensure riders were protected.<\/p>\n

Vuelta organisers have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n

The protest on Tuesday led to several riders taking evasive action but Simone Petilli, of Intermarche-Wanty, fell on the road. \u201cI understand that is not a good situation, but yesterday I crashed because of a protest on the road,\u201d Petilli posted on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, we are just cyclists and we are doing our job, but if it will continue like this our safety is not guaranteed any more, and we feel in danger. We just want to race.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retired cycling great Mark Cavendish also pleaded with spectators to show respect to the riders and not take for granted proximity to the cycling action. \u201cDon\u2019t get close to the riders, don\u2019t push the riders, don\u2019t have flags or objects getting in the way \u2013 don\u2019t do anything that\u2019s going to change the race,\u201d Cavendish said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Professional Cyclists\u2019 Association has demanded better security at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a after protesters disrupted stages in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-111783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}