Israel-Premier Tech cycling team members (Credit: Israel-Premier Tech website)
Israel-Premier Tech cycling team strips name from uniforms after protests in Spain
The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team announced Saturday it will strip the word "Israel" from its jerseys for the rest of Spain’s La Vuelta race, citing escalating safety concerns after repeated pro-Palestinian demonstrations disrupted the event.
In a statement shared on social media, the team said the change was made “in the interest of prioritizing the safety of our riders and the entire peloton, in light of the dangerous nature of some protests.”
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The Spanish grand tour has seen mounting tension in recent days. On Wednesday, stage organizers in Bilbao were forced to end the race three kilometers early after protests blocked the road. Two days later, Spanish police wielded batons to disperse demonstrators in Asturias, briefly delaying the leading pack.
The team explained that its updated jerseys now match support vehicles and casual gear, which had already avoided displaying the word "Israel".
Team co-owner Sylvan Adams, a Canadian-'Israeli' billionaire and close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, brushed off the protests in an interview with 'Israeli' outlet Sport 5, labeling demonstrators in Spain’s Basque Country as “terrorists.”
According to reports, La Vuelta’s organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization, asked the squad to consider withdrawing altogether. Adams rejected the idea, insisting, “If we give up, it’s not just the end of our team, but of all the other teams.”
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Netanyahu himself praised the decision to stay, writing on social media Friday, “Great job to Sylvan and Israel’s cycling team for not giving in to hate and intimidation. You make Israel proud!”
But Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, publicly took the opposite stance, saying the 'Israeli' team should be expelled from the competition and voicing support for the demonstrators.
On Saturday, La Vuelta pressed ahead through Asturias without interruptions, though Palestinian flags and anti-war banners lined parts of the route. The three-week race is set to finish in Madrid on September 14, where mass pro-Palestinian protests have already been staged.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the humanitarian toll continues to deepen. Streets in Gaza City filled with families fleeing south on Saturday after 'Israel' expanded warnings of a ground assault and targeted residential towers. Nearly 64,400 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, with famine looming across the besieged enclave.
The controversy has sparked broader criticism of international sports bodies, with activists accusing them of double standards: banning Russian athletes over the Ukraine war, while allowing 'Israeli' teams to compete despite the devastating war in Gaza.
