“The strength of races is usually precisely that people don’t want them to be disrupted” – Christian Prudhomme says protests at the Vuelta mark a new phenomenon

Mass protests against the presence of Israel - Premier Tech overshadowed the closing stages of the Vuelta a España, forcing the cancellation of the final day of racing and preventing riders from celebrating the overall result on the road.

In remarks Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme made during a roundtable discussion at the French Embassy in Berlin to mark the release of a book on the Tour de France, and later gathered by L’Équipe, he reflected on the Vuelta protests and cycling’s long-standing vulnerability to political and social tensions.

“Road cycling races have always been subject to the ups and downs of life, generally speaking. Road cycling is part of life; it feels what’s happening on a daily basis more than anywhere else in a closed stadium,” he said, noting that the open nature of the sport has made it susceptible to protests and unforeseen incidents for over a century. “Bandits attacked Tour riders in the 1920s. That’s always been the case,” he added.

Prudhomme continued explaining that organizing races inevitably stirs local tensions. “When we go somewhere, factories always close, and negotiations are necessarily necessary. We know this fragility, it’s obvious.” Yet, he underlined that the current situation marks uncharted territory. “The strength of races is usually precisely that people don’t want them to be disrupted. This is a completely new phenomenon.”

The Tour de France 2026 is scheduled to begin in Barcelona, but there is growing uncertainty whether that will actually be possible after all the incidents throughout the Vuelta a España. ASO, the organizer of both the Tour and the Vuelta, is expected to ask Spanish politicians for guarantees in order to ensure safety, but the possibility of switching the Grand Départ to another location is not unlikely.

The regional government of the Canary Islands, where the Vuelta a España 2026 is set to finish, already released a statement to announce that they will not host any stages if Israel - Premier Tech participates, adding fuel to the fire and putting more pressure on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which is the only body that could take the decision of banning the team.

So far, the UCI has stayed firm in its position, making it clear that they do not intend to exclude Israel - Premier Tech. They claim to be following recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, which does not support the ban of the team, despite having banned Russian teams in 2022.