"You can see the aggression in their eyes" - Time trial favourite worried about safety of the stage
Cycling
Stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana 2025 will take place this Thursday. It will be a 28-kilometer individual time trial in the city of Valladolid. For Dutch champion Daan Hoole this will be a great opportunity to leave a strong mark at this Vuelta and complete a double with a time trial victory at Giro earlier this year. But will he be able to compete? The threat of suspension of the stage is once again a real danger to the race because of the constant pro-Palestinian protests.
First victims of protests were the Israel - Premier Tech during the team time trial on stage 5. A group of protesters force the Israeli team to come to a nearly full stop. The riders' times were eventually adjusted artificially, but the damage was already done. Since then, there has been a snowball effect, and they are growing in number.
Daan Hoole himself has spoken out about them. The Lidl-Trek cyclist believes that the objective of the protests is being lost, and episodes are occurring that endanger the integrity of the riders due to the aggressiveness of the demonstrators.
"I must say that it's getting more and more hostile, and also more and more annoying (the situation). But it's getting worse, we simply can't hold a cycling race anymore. At first, it started with people with flags on the sides, which is fine. It's their right, of course, to demonstrate. But now it's getting more and more hostile and extreme," Hoole told NOS.
"We've already had several occasions where, cycling through hordes of people, you see the aggression in their eyes. Then you think, 'what can we do about it right now?' Sure, there's a team riding with the support of Israel, but for the rest of the peloton, the situation is getting very nasty," he added.
Pro-Palestinian protests are marking the Vuelta a España
Hoole calls for protests to stay outside
Finally, Daan Hoole wanted to send a message to the protesters to ask them to keep the protests on the side of the road, not inside it. That way the Vuelta a Espana could be finished and the message to the world would still be given:
"I'm not necessarily afraid, and I think it's everyone's right to protest. But it has to be safe and done correctly. I don't think it's the right way. I also don't quite understand why we have to suffer the consequences," the Lidl-Trek rider concluded.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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