Vuelta technical director suggests Israel-Premier Tech withdrawal is 'only solution' to protests

Vuelta a España technical director Kiko García has suggested that the only way to protect the safety of the riders for the remainder of the event would be if the Israel-Premier Tech squad withdrew from the race.

There was no winner of stage 11 of the Vuelta in Bilbao, which was halted with 3km to go due to a demonstration in the finishing straight against Israel-Premier Tech’s continuing participation in the race.

Bilbao’s Gran Vía was bedecked with Palestinian flags on Wednesday afternoon in protest at Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, which has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis. According to Gaza health authorities and the United Nations, more than 58,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza almost two years ago in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks, which killed more than 700 people.

Israel-Premier Tech have been the subject of protests since the Vuelta arrived in Spain following the opening stages in Italy and France. Human rights protestors had previously attempted to block Israel-Premier Tech during the team time trial on stage 5, while Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty) crashed on stage 10 after protestors had spilt into the road as the peloton rode by.

García revealed that the Vuelta organisation had met with Israel-Premier Tech management on Tuesday evening to discuss the situation ahead of the race’s entry into the Basque Country, a region with a history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Several political parties in Spain have called for the expulsion of Israel-Premier Tech from the race, though Vuelta organiser Unipublic has repeatedly pointed out that it is not in their gift to exclude a WorldTour team from the race. The UCI barred Gazprom from competition immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the governing body has not taken a position against Israel-Premier Tech's participation in international cycling.

“We have not directly asked the UCI to expel Israel, but we did provide them with background information long before all this happened. We are bound by regulations,” García told reporters at the finish in Bilbao. 

“I spoke with the team manager [of Israel-Premier Tech] late into the night to see if they themselves felt the pressure mounting. I won’t reveal their point of view, but there is only one solution. We cannot implement it.” 

Asked if he was calling for Israel-Premier Tech to withdraw from the race, García said: “Can you give me another possible solution? Please don't misinterpret me, I want to prioritise everyone’s safety today. But that would be it. But we’re going round in circles, we know it. We can’t make a decision, so we don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

Before the stage began on Wednesday, the Vuelta organisation met with riders and team representatives to discuss the safety measures in place around Bilbao. The peloton was briefly halted by protestors in the neutralised zone, and on the climb of the Alto del Vivero, a banner was briefly placed in front of riders. 

By that point, the race had already passed through the finishing straight for the first time, and the decision was taken shortly afterwards to take the GC times with 3km to go and have no stage winner.

“It was a hard day for everyone, as you can imagine. It was complicated,” García said. “We knew that there could be protests. The first time we passed the finish line, we realised that it was practically uncontrollable, and we had two options – either stop the race or try to put on the best spectacle possible for the fans who had come out to watch. We had timing equipment at 3km to go, so we saw that was the best solution, albeit without a stage winner, of course. We wanted to maintain the sporting element as much as possible.”