"Using sport to 'whitewash' a genocide contravenes the most basic values" – UCI & Spanish government embroiled in war of words over Vuelta protests

The fallout from the unprecedented disruption of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana shows no signs of abating, with the UCI and the Spanish government now locked in a sharp exchange over the meaning and legitimacy of the pro-Palestinian protests that repeatedly interrupted the race.

What began as a series of small demonstrations escalated into near-daily disruptions, culminating in the abrupt halt of the final stage in Madrid. Protesters intruded into the peloton, hurled liquids at riders, and caused crashes that forced several competitors to abandon. The UCI, in a strongly worded statement, condemned the incidents as “a serious violation of the Olympic Charter and the fundamental principles of sport.”

While praising the organisers and police for their handling of an “unprecedented situation,” cycling’s world governing body reserved some of its harshest criticism for the Spanish government. The UCI said it “regrets the fact that the Spanish Prime Minister and his government have supported actions that could hinder the smooth running of a sporting competition,” calling such a stance “contradictory to the Olympic values of unity, mutual respect, and peace.”

The body also raised doubts about Spain’s credibility as a future host for major events, including the joint 2030 FIFA World Cup with Portugal and Morocco.

That intervention drew a swift and equally forceful reply from Madrid. In a letter addressed to UCI president David Lappartient, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, Spain’s Secretary of State for Sport and president of the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD), expressed “profound discomfort and surprise” at the UCI’s position. He defended the right to peaceful protest as a constitutional guarantee in Spain, adding that when exercised in defence of human rights it becomes “a moral obligation.”

Rodríguez Uribes argued that condemning such protests amounts to “whitewashing” a genocide, pointing directly to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “There is no peace or justice in using sport to ‘whitewash’ through sport a genocide like the one being committed in Gaza, with thousands of innocent children killed and famine already declared by the United Nations,” the letter read. He accused the UCI of double standards, noting that the body acted firmly in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has not called on Israel to end what he described as “the massacre and barbarity suffered by the people of Palestine.”

The Spanish government also bristled at suggestions that its organisational capacity was in question, citing a long list of successfully staged international events, from the Copa Libertadores final in Madrid in 2018 to multiple World Tour cycling races and major tennis and motorsport competitions. “Spain has always done these things well, safely and effectively,” Rodríguez Uribes insisted, before closing with a paraphrase of Kant’s philosophy: “Peace without justice is nothing more than the peace of cemeteries.”

The clash highlights a fundamental divide over the role of sport in a world increasingly shaped by political and humanitarian crises. For the UCI, the autonomy of sport and the sanctity of the Olympic Charter must be defended against political interference. For Spain’s government, neutrality in the face of alleged human rights violations is itself a political act – one incompatible with both the values of sport and the moral duty of a democracy.

As the dust settles on a Vuelta remembered less for Jonas Vingegaard’s hard-fought overall victory than for the protests that overshadowed it, the episode leaves cycling facing difficult questions. How can a sport so dependent on open roads and public space safeguard its integrity in politically charged times? And more broadly, can sport truly remain a neutral arena when global injustices play out in full view of the peloton?