{"id":115319,"date":"2025-09-05T01:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/115319\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T01:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T01:26:10","slug":"israeli-riders-find-support-after-pro-palestinian-protest-turmoil-at-vuelta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/115319\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli riders find support after pro-Palestinian protest turmoil at Vuelta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel Premier Tech endured another tough stage at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Thursday, finishing well behind the podium contenders. But after a turbulent day marked by political protests the day before<\/a>, the team said it finally felt a sense of relief.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators lined the route into Bilbao during Stage 11, prompting organizers to cut the race three kilometers short over safety concerns. Riders reported hostility throughout the tour, including one incident when protesters entered the course and blocked their path.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/a>\"\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/p>\n

Israel Premier Tech riders <\/p>\n

(Photo: ANDER GILLENEA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s stage from Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna told a different story. Along the 145-kilometer (90-mile) route, fans waved Israeli flags and carried signs of support \u2014 some written in Hebrew. Others approached the team bus to offer encouragement after the scenes in the Basque Country. The team also received an outpouring of support online.<\/p>\n

Event director Kiko Garc\u00eda said he had urged the Israeli squad\u2019s managers to consider withdrawing from the race to avoid endangering other participants, but the proposal was immediately rejected.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d4\u05de\u05e4\u05d2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05de\u05e4\u05d2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian protesters obstruct at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a <\/p>\n

(Photo: Screengrab)<\/p>\n

Israeli rider Nadav Raisberg said the change in atmosphere was palpable. \u201cAt the start, we still saw the presence of pro-Palestinians, but the further we got from Bilbao, the less there were. Then suddenly we saw a few Israeli flags, and it made me feel so good \u2014 like we could finally race with a clear head,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I felt I was myself again. I\u2019m glad we insisted on staying in the race. They won\u2019t erase us from the sporting map \u2014 not here, not anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel Premier Tech endured another tough stage at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a on Thursday, finishing well behind the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-115319","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\/115319","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=115319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}