Cycling is and will always be political

These actions provoked a lot of reactions on social media, including many people complaining that sports “shouldn’t be linked with politics.”  However, the point is moot, as cycling has been a political tool more or less since its creation and it will always remain one. 

In Ancient Greece, the Olympic Games were a way for the cities to compete without bloodshed, a way to assert domination over their neighbours without having to declare war. The champions of each city were representing their entire people in a war of influence, what we would today call “soft power”.

This concept of soft power was only put into words by the American geopolitician Joseph Nye in 1990 but has been present ever since rivalries between cities existed. Defined as “ability to co-opt rather than coerce,” soft power is a way to gain influence over the rest of the world without fighting wars. With the development of sport competitions at the end of the 19th century, athletes became tools for their countries’ international visibility.

The globalisation of sports and of TV coverage has emphasised this phenomenon, with the biggest countries trying to prove that their athletes were the best in order to demonstrate the superiority of their system (for example, USA-USSR during the Cold War), while the smaller countries tried to make a name for themselves with athletes shining on the screens of millions of people. If Jamaica and Portugal are well known globally, for instance, it’s thanks in no small part to the likes of superstars such as Usain Bolt and Cristiano Ronaldo, who helped to put their countries into conversations around the world.

Though cycling is not as popular as football, the Tour de France is the event with the third most viewers in the world, with a live broadcast in 190 countries around the planet. This breadth of coverage is extremely interesting for countries and states in search of publicity, for various reasons.

In the 21st century, the international peloton saw the arrival of new teams with a state as their main sponsor. Most of these countries share the common point of being from the Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel all represented in the WorldTour peloton.

The investment of the Middle Eastern countries in sports is not new, as we saw with Qatar and Saudi Arabia in football, and it can be explained by different factors. 

The first intention is to put the country on the map. The oil in the soil of these countries created much wealth, but money cannot entirely buy international influence and the resources in the ground are not infinite. Investments in sports events and teams are a way to gain recognition internationally, but also to project a good image.

Both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are under monarchical regimes. According to Amnesty International, these two countries are also guilty of severe human rights violations. Indeed, criticising the government can lead to jail and torture is still used. Being present in the international peloton is a way to hide these problems – “sportswashing,” in other words.

Israel represents an even more complicated case. Ever since the creation of the State of Israel after the end of the Second World War, tensions with Palestine have existed, resulting in terrible wars. Since the attack of October 7, 2023, Israel is fighting an open war in Gaza, killing and bombing civilians. The United Nations themselves condemned the Israeli actions in Palestine, talking of “genocidal acts.”

Israel-Premier Tech is not backed directly by the State of Israel, but CEO Sylvan Adams, close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has done everything in his power in the past decade to project a good image for Israel through cycling. It’s thanks to him that Jerusalem hosted the Grande Partenza of the 2018 Giro d’Italia. However, since the beginning of Israel’s campaign in Palestine, the existence of the team has caused rising tensions in the cycling world.

While the biggest races of the cycling calendar allow some authoritarian countries to give a good image of themselves, they also provide an opportunity for protestors to advertise their causes to a wider audience, through the media.

In the past months, it has become common to see spectators with Palestinian flags on the side of the road, showing their support and solidarity for the people suffering in Gaza. During this Vuelta, some actions have been more disruptive, with activists stopping the Israel-Premier Tech team during the team time trial in the first week but also forcing organisers to cancel the finish of the stage in Bilbao on Wednesday. 

According to some people, these acts have nothing to do with the Vuelta, and the cyclists should not be disturbed by geopolitical conflicts. However, as mentioned earlier, Israel has the right to show its name in the peloton throughout the year. By the same logic, is it not fair to let supporters of the Palestinian cause do the same? Yet a member of the Vuelta organisation was filmed removing Palestinian flags from the roadside earlier in the race.

As is well known, the Basque people are huge fans of cycling. Wouldn’t they have preferred to let the race go to the end? But many of them decided that some causes are bigger than sports. With the cancellation of the final three kilometres, the Vuelta organisers and the UCI have reached a point of no return. 

The question of Israel-Premier Tech’s presence in the peloton has never been more of a sensitive subject. The riders, of course, have nothing to do with this situation, but they may be the first victims here, as it looks increasingly complicated for the race to continue with an Israeli-backed team in the peloton. 

Decisions like this are never desired by anyone following the sport. However, sometimes, they are necessary. The presence of Israel on the jersey of one of the biggest teams in the peloton cannot be ignored anymore. It was only a matter of time until things led to a situation like this one.

In good and bad times, cycling will always be a way to convey messages to the world. Today, the message is clear: Israel-Premier Tech’s presence in the international peloton has become a huge problem amid Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza. 

The UCI has vacillated for almost two years, but surely the time has come to consider what to do with Sylvan Adams’ team. It’s a complicated decision between avoiding the disbandment of a tea, which would put a lot of people jobless and, at the same time, trying to make sure that the international peloton is safe.