Israel–Premier Tech cycling team removed from Italy race amid threats of Gaza war protests

Team Israel Premier-Tech’s Italian rider Marco Frigo (C) rides next to pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the start of the 12th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, on 4 September 2025

Yotam Koren reports in Haaretz on 27 September 2025:

The Israel–Premier Tech cycling team has been removed from the Giro dell’Emilia race scheduled for next Saturday in Bologna, amid concerns that widespread protests against its participation could disrupt the event, local media reported.

The cycling team said that the organizers cited security concerns due to threatened protests and demonstrations that could interfere with the event.

“We understand the security challenges facing the organizers, but we deeply regret the decision to bar our team from participating and consider it unacceptable. We reject threats of violence that harm the sport of cycling and jeopardize the races,” the team said in response.

Bologna City Council’s sports commissioner, Roberta di Calzi, said: “Given the situation in Gaza, it would be hypocritical for us to allow a team linked to this government to participate. We are glad the race organizers agree with us. I thank them for being sensitive to the feelings of the city’s residents, many of whom I believe share this view.”

Calls to suspend Israel from international sports, including competitive cycling, have been growing recently. The Israel Premier-Tech team recently ended its participation in the Vuelta a España in Spain amid widespread protests. The final stage of the race was cut short, along with several other stages.

The Giro dell’Emilia race is a one-day race, and participation is by invitation only, as opposed to stage races, such as the Vuelta a España, which features the top 18 teams in the world tour, as determined by the world cycling governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale.

UCI President David Lappartient said the body will continue to welcome Israeli athletes at its competitions despite calls for sporting boycotts, adding that sport should unite rather than punish.  Lappartient, who was re-elected the body’s president for a third four-year term at the UCI Congress on Thursday, was speaking on the sidelines of the World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.

“It is perfectly normal for them to be here, because we believe, and I am speaking on behalf of the UCI, but I could almost say that these are also Olympic values, that sport is not a tool for punishment,” he told reporters.

The International Olympic Committee said last week that it has never discussed suspending Israel from the Olympic Games. It has not suspended Russia or Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine until Russia’s Olympic Committee attempted to seize control of sports bodies in occupied eastern Ukraine.

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