More pro-Palestine protests disrupted the Vuelta a España on stage 11 in Bilbao, with activists in the road interrupting the intermediate sprint, and slowing riders on a climb.
It followed a tense day in the Basque Country, as protests dogged the race through the region on Wednesday, with flags, banners, and direct action. The neutralised roll-out had been disrupted earlier by protestors blocking the road, after conversations were reported to be happening between team representatives, the riders’ union and race organisers over safety issues.
On Tuesday, Intermarché-Wanty’s Simone Petilli crashed after protestors ran onto the road, with police unable to hold them back. This led to riders asking fans to stay clear of the peloton and not risk any incidents.
“It was a conversation between us and the organisation. We, the riders, know that in the last few weeks the organisers have been doing as much as they can – so many police, so many,” Lotto’s Elia Viviani told Cyclingnews on Wednesday.
“Obviously, if there’s a situation that is dangerous for the peloton, we should decide something. But as the organisation has said, we don’t know what’s going to happen, we’ll see how it goes.
“If it’s all peaceful, then there’s no problem, so the race will proceed normally. We are dependent on that. On our part, if it’s peaceful, then we’ll simply restart. If there are falls, danger and so on, then we’ll decide what we do, because they [the organisers] don’t know what’ll happen.”
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