Arrests and growing outrage over an Israeli team's participation in the Vuelta a España

Barcelona"It was obvious something was going to happen," says a Vuelta a España worker nervously. They've been told not to talk about the presence of the Israel Premier Tech team, owned by a personal friend of the Israeli president. The race was supposed to go ahead as if nothing had happened, but every day they're met with hundreds of protesters waiting for them. For weeks, the organizers had been worried about the announcements of demonstrations against the team's presence. And on Wednesday, during the team time trial on the roads of the Alt Empordà, it happened: security forces were unable to prevent a group of protesters from blocking the road just as the Israel Premier Tech team was about to pass, to protest the presence of a team with ties to the Israeli government right in the middle of the military campaign in Gaza.

This Thursday, a group of activists tried to stop the start of the sixth stage, between Olot and Pal (Andorra), but were unsuccessful. The rider was about to start the stage when protesters got in front of the riders, but they were immediately evicted. Since the Vuelta a España, they had been in talks for weeks with the Spanish authorities, but also with the Italian authorities, as the first stages were in Piedmont, to discuss ways to protect the athletes. In Italy, there were demonstrations every day and Palestinian flags were seen along the route, but the race was not affected. The time trial was different, as the protesters got their way. In fact, one of those arrested by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) has been brought before a court—he was released this afternoon on charges—accused of causing a serious risk to traffic and resisting and disobeying authorities, as well as causing public disorder.

Javier Guillén, director of the Vuelta a España, condemned the "acts of violence" by the group of protesters and announced that they would file a police complaint. "Any protest is respectable through peaceful means, and in this case nothing happened, but it could have. Israel Premier Tech is not an invited team; it participated on its own merits in the Tour and Giro, and nothing can prevent it from competing in the Vuelta a España," he explained, referring to the fact that top-level teams qualify for their classifications. Races reserve the right to invite teams, but this would not be the case for Israel Premier Tech.

The Vuelta absolved itself of responsibility for the team's presence with this argument, but it didn't avoid the debates. In fact, this Thursday, the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, sent a letter to Guillén in which she expressed her "deep concern and indignation" after learning that he had defined the protesters' actions as a "violent act." "I ask you to consider whether the values of the Vuelta are compatible with the participation of a team linked to a state that violates international law, that is perpetrating mass genocide," Riego says in the letter. This isn't the first time this team has participated in the Spanish Grand Tour; five and four years ago, they were invited by the organizers.

A militant Zionist owner

The team was founded in 2014 under the name Cycling Academy Team and took a step forward when Sylvan Adams, a Canadian-Israeli businessman, joined the project in 2017. Thanks to Adams' investment, the team was able to enter the UCI World Teams group, the top category in world cycling. Adams has publicly supported Benjamin Netanyahu's government and, in fact, conducts business with the government's permission in the occupied West Bank. The two maintain good relations, especially after Adams decided to take up residence in Tel Aviv in 2015. A militant Zionist, with positions in international Zionist organizations, Adams donates significantly each year to educational centers and hospitals in Israel, and in 2024 he donated $100 million to help rebuild neighborhoods and kibbutz.

A huge cycling enthusiast, as evidenced by the fact that he paid for velodromes and races in Canada out of his own pocket, he was one of the key figures in getting the first three stages of the 2018 Giro d'Italia to be held in Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization said at the time that this move was part of "the general Israeli campaign to normalize employment and, in the case of Jerusalem in particular, the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, including the Old City."

Adams invested more than 100 million euros in organizing those three stages, which raised a lot of controversy, since part of the route passed through lands that, according to the Pau Accords, are Palestinian. He was clear that cycling could be a good tool to improve Israel's image and continued to invest in his team. To achieve this, he acquired the license of the Russian team Katusha-Alpeci and signed names of the caliber of Chris Froome, who never fully performed due to injuries. Curiously, the International Cycling Union did punish Russian teams and expel them from its competitions for the war in Ukraine, but it hasn't done the same with Israel Premier Tech and the war in Gaza. Not only does it compete, but it is currently the second-best team in the world rankings, so it participates in the Vuelta without needing to be invited.

The Platform for the Sport Boycott in Israel, in coordination with legal groups, issued a statement before the start of the race stating that, if it wanted, the Vuelta could expel the Israeli team from the competition despite it having qualified on merit. "According to Section 6 of the Spanish Cycling Federation's regulations, a team may be rejected from participating in the Vuelta if its presence undermines the image or reputation of the sport, the organizer, or the race," the platform explained. The Vuelta, organized by Unipublic, did not respond to the proposal.