Africa\u2019s first hosting of the road world championships should be a moment of celebration for cycling and the continent but Rwanda instead finds itself the backdrop to a sport mired in infighting and controversy.<\/p>\n
The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a ended on Sunday<\/a> after three weeks of racing characterised by mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations against the presence of the Israel-Premier Tech team<\/a>.<\/p>\n The denouement of all that chaos for race winner Jonas Vingegaard, runner-up Jo\u00e3o Almeida and third-placed finisher Tom Pidcock was cheap champagne and a makeshift podium in a hotel car park.<\/p>\n The heated debate over sportswashing in cycling that spilled over into violent protest in Spain has now moved from Madrid to Kigali, where Rwanda\u2019s president, Paul Kagame, has long been criticised for what human rights groups describe as an authoritarian and undemocratic regime.<\/p>\n However, David Lappartient, the UCI president, maintains that staging the sport\u2019s blue riband championships in Rwanda, more than 30 years after the 1994 genocide<\/a>, is an inspirational \u201cmessage of hope\u201d. This is despite the country\u2019s record on human rights, as highlighted by Amnesty International\u2019s reports of \u201cenforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, excessive use of force, unfair trials and restrictions on the right to freedom of expression\u201d.<\/p>\n Since announcing Rwanda as host for the 2025 world championships, Lappartient has been dismissive of those criticising Kagame\u2019s regime. \u201cIn all the countries in the world, you can find some points where they can be better, but when I see where Rwanda was, and where it is now, it\u2019s great,\u201d Lappartient said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are always careful about human rights because it\u2019s in our DNA as an international federation to keep in mind the values of the Olympic movement, of peace, respect and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The Israel-Premier Tech riders link arms during the 21st and last stage of the Vuelta on Sunday. Rival teams could boycott future races that involve them. Photograph: Javier Liz\u00f3n\/EPA<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the proposed boycott of the Israel-Premier Tech team continues to gather pace with both Barcelona, venue for the Grand D\u00e9part of the 2026 Tour de France, and the Canary Islands, location of the finale of next year\u2019s Vuelta, refusing to accept the presence of the team.<\/p>\n Against the backdrop of the spiralling debate, which has now set the UCI against the Spanish government, the measured and precise Lappartient finds himself in the eye of a storm over sport and politics.<\/p>\n There are those close to the UCI who feel that a man more at home pondering handlebar width and aerodynamic sock length, and who garnered only four votes at the recent IOC presidency elections, may now be a little out of his depth.<\/p>\n There is provision in the UCI rules to suspend the licence of a UCI World Tour team to \u201cprotect the image\u201d of the World Tour.<\/p>\n However, complications may arise in the debate over the Israel-Premier Tech team\u2019s status as it is not currently a World Tour team. However, neither was the Russian-registered Gazprom-RusVelo team that was banned from competition following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n This week, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said: \u201cUsing sport to \u2018whitewash\u2019 a genocide, like the one being committed in Gaza, is a political position that contravenes the Olympic Charter and the most basic values \u200b\u200bof sport.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a limited British presence in Rwanda \u2013 there are no riders entered in the women\u2019s road race or men\u2019s elite time trial \u2013 and the noise around the racing is unlikely to disturb the focus of the pragmatic Pidcock, whose move from Ineos Grenadiers to the lesser Q36.5 team has now been fully vindicated.<\/p>\n