Banned for life - Spanish rider who was expelled from Tour of Mentougou after Strava post cant return to China

It's not everyday that a professional cyclist is banned from entering a country but the end of the 2025 season has been delivering controversies that would've been hard to imagine. After a description in a Strava activity, the situation has escalated to the podium where Burgos Burpellet BH rider Mario Aparicio has been banned from entering China altogether.

According to El Correo, China has banned Mario Aparicio from entering the country for life. In fact, he will not be able to stop at any of its airports either, so the situation becomes even more complicated for a Burgos Burpellet BH that every year always performs so well in races in the Asian continent, as Aparicio is one of its main stars.

As is known, Mario Aparicio was disqualified after stage 1 of the Tour de Mentougou. The rider posted on Strava the route taken during the opening day of the race. But he did so by posting the emoji of a pig next to the national flag of China. This generated a lot of criticism and even death threats against the Spanish team rider.

"It was an insult to our nation. In addition, users were able to verify that the Spanish athlete, in other competitions, has published after the races only the flag of the country where he competed, without adding any emoticon, so it denotes a clear rude intentionality," said a Chinese newspaper, according to El Mundo.

Far from the controversy, Mario Aparicio has completed a very remarkable season with Burgos Burpellet BH. The Spaniard premiered his palmarès literally in the first race of 2025 when he took stage 1 of the Tour of Sharjah. Later, he continued his good trend with a 14th place at the Tour of Oman.

In the Vuelta a Andalucía he played a leading role for a day, and came close to a Top 10 for Burgos in stage 4 where he escaped. His good level returned in the National Championships of Spain, when he finished 6th in the time trial and 10th in the elite men's road race.

In the Vuelta a Burgos, the most important race for his team, he was just outside the Top 10 in the general classification. His good level during the year was rewarded with his participation in the Vuelta a España, which he took advantage of by entering four breakaways. But the bad luck of Burgos Burpellet BH, which was weakened by a stomach virus, deprived the rider and the team of being able to stand out more. After his disqualification in the Tour de Mentougou, Mario Aparicio travelled back to Europe right away and still ended his season in the Giro del Veneto, where he finished 25th.