Pro-Palestine protesters boycotted the Israeli team during La Vuelta a España stage 5 on Wednesday. This stage, a team time trial, is raced with the whole team at the same time, which made very easy for protesters to target the whole Israel-Premier Tech team, eight riders. The incident was seen on TV cameras.
A group of around ten people, with Palestinian flags, stood blocking the road when the Israeli team was about to cross. Police motorcycles escorting the team dispersed the protesters, but the Israeli riders had to slow down for a few seconds. They ended up finishing 45 seconds behind he top team, Emirates.
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As CyclingWeekly reports, similar incidents against the Israeli-based team have occurred at Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. The team has no ties with the government of Israel, but its owner, Sylvan Adams, has openly supported the country, which is about to invade Gaza City and has killed over 60,000 people in Gaza in the last two years.
Earlier today, we reported that one of their top riders, who wasn't called for La Vuelta, Canadian Derek Gee, had chosen to quit the team, citing "legitimate reasons".