One of the two protesters who ran onto the road, in front of the day’s breakaway and a charging peloton, in a bid to disrupt the finale of the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia has been arrested and charged with assault, according to local reports.
The protest, which was described as “shocking” and “insane” by Wout van Aert, took place with three kilometres remaining of Thursday’s stage of the Italian grand tour into Napoli, when a man and a woman attempted to stretch tape and a rubber rube across the width of the road, hitting breakaway rider Taco van der Hoorn and forcing him to brake sharply.
The man then picked up a banner, which has now been reported to have featured a slogan condemning the Israel-Premier Tech team’s participation in the race, and ran towards the peloton, narrowly avoiding several speeding riders in the process, while other spectators chased him.
Though originally missed by the main TV cameras as they focused on the peloton during the finale of the stage, footage shown on the Giro’s multi-camera feed showed the protesters running onto the road as Van der Hoorn and his breakaway companion Enzo Paleni approached at around 60kph.
The man, wearing a yellow coat, attempted to stretch tape and what appeared to be a rubber tube across the two riders’ path, hitting Van der Hoorn with the tape in the process and forcing the Intermarché-Wanty rider to brake and duck.
Meanwhile, the women, dressed in black, waved a white banner at the duo, which local newspaper Il Gazzettino Vesuviano has reported contained the slogan ‘Israel out of the Giro d’Italia’. After the tape collapsed, the man rushed back to grab the white banner from the woman, as another spectator ran across the road to attempt to stop them.
The protester then ran across the road and through the bunch waving the banner while being chased, with footage filmed by roadside fans showing the man and a chasing spectator coming within inches of the riders at high speed.
According to Il Gazzettino Vesuviano, a 67-year-old man with a police record has been apprehended by police and charged with assault and resisting a public official in relation to the protest, which is currently being investigated.
Speaking after the stage, won by Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Kaden Groves, Van der Hoorn explained that he was brought to a “complete standstill” thanks to the protesters’ actions.
“With three kilometres to go, those protesters came onto the road,” the Dutch rider told Eurosport. “Suddenly, there was someone in front of me with a ribbon and who knows what else he had. I came to a complete standstill. I rode straight through them, but I came to a complete standstill, because they completely blocked the road.
“Then you have to get going again, while you are completely wasted, so to speak. That is difficult. It did have an impact. I don’t know if we would have made it otherwise, I don’t think so. But it is a shame that it has to end like this.
“He [Paleni] cycled around them, while I was completely stationary. That’s why it happened, but apparently it wasn’t on TV. He didn’t ride away from me. I was just completely blocked, which meant I had to brake hard. That made a difference of about ten seconds.”
Speaking to Sporza, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert said he was “shocked” when he learned of the protest after the stage.
“The peloton suddenly made some strange movements from left to right. But I didn’t know why,” Van Aert said.
“I hadn’t seen the demonstrators with my own eyes. So I was shocked when I saw the images afterwards. It was insane. I’m just glad they weren’t glued to the ground.
“People are watching with amazement. But as riders, we have little influence on it. In a big city like Napoli, you should put up fences everywhere. But those people aren’t deterred by a police motorcyclist riding 100 metres ahead of the peloton. So they would have jumped over the fences too.
“I hope they arrest these people and that they come to their senses. We as riders can only condemn this behaviour.”
Protests against Israel-Premier Tech’s presence at bike races, and Israel’s actions in Gaza, are nothing new – though they have never come as close to impacting the peloton as they did three kilometres from the finish in Napoli on Thursday.
In January, we reported that WorldTour squad Israel-Premier Tech took part in the Tour Down Under amid ongoing protests over the team’s presence at the race, just months after team staff were confronted by a pro-Palestine group at the Tour of Britain.
50 thoughts on “Anti-Israel activist charged with assault after “insane” Giro d’Italia protest”
Protesters… 🤷🏻♂️
Protesters… 🤷🏻♂️
and the worst thing is…they
and the worst thing is…they have a good point to be made. Shameless sportswashing.
bobbinogs wrote:
Like UAE, Bahrain etc but they are deemed to be acceptable and not worth our outrage. Selective outrage smacks of bias and racism to me
Peaceful protest is
Peaceful protest is democratic process.
Running into a closed course so putting riders, not teams or sponsors who make decisions, is despicable and the Italian Police motorcycle escort failed to protect the riders.
lonpfrb wrote:
So now it’s the fault of the Italian police? They cannot be everywhere all of the time, only so much to go around. Best if protesters grew up and learned how to do a peaceful protest, not likely to happen but would be good.
ErnieC wrote:
Like UAE, Bahrain etc but they are deemed to be acceptable and not worth our outrage. Selective outrage smacks of bias and racism to me— bobbinogs
UAE and Bahrain are both highly unpleasant regimes, but they haven’t slaughtered 70,000+ people in the last eighteen months including 17,000+ children so it’s only “selective outrage” in terms of we select you to protest against because you’re carrying out a genocide (as defined by the United Nations) and they’re not.
Rendel Harris wrote:
But not unpleasant enough to protest against? Is there a threshold to reach before protests can start? Me carrying out genocide – Not sure how you jumped to that conclusion?
ErnieC wrote:
Not sure how you managed to jump to that conclusion that the above was me addressing you rather than what the protesters would say to Israel. You didn’t of course, you’re just being a bit silly. For the record I am happy to state that I do not believe that you are carrying out a genocide. You do appear to be a supporter of, or at least an apologist for, it though.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Why? Because I think other regimes are also “deserving” of protest and should not be welcomed with open arms.
ErnieC wrote:
No, because you have repeatedly on this forum defended Israel and accused others of antisemitism and racism if they have spoken against her actions. Simple question, if you could answer with no whataboutery or the aforementioned accusations, do you condemn the actions of Israel over the last eighteen months in Gaza, actions that have been classified by the United Nations and numerous other respected authorities as a genocide?
Rendel Harris wrote:
No, because some of the Israels responses have been justified and some of the protests and reactions are anti-semitic. Why is the UN and other countries so quiet about other injustices? It’s selective outrage and that will always irritate me and we will never agree on this.
ErnieC wrote:
In the last six months the UN has passed resolutions condemning the actions of North Korea, Iran, Russia, Syria and Myanmar, so the “only picking on Israel” narrative won’t fly, I’m afraid.
Rendel Harris wrote:
and in spite of that condemnation, no protests.
ErnieC wrote:
What were this lot doing in Trafalgar Square then, supporting the Ukrainian football team?
Is it Leeds fans celebrating
Is it Leeds fans celebrating their Championship title?
UN is nice but decorative.
UN is nice but decorative. Wallets are the ones that hurt more.
Israel has killed 10 times the children Russia has killed, 100 times the children has Iran killed, but faces no sanctions. People cannot send money to their old sick parents living on 200quid pensions, families cannot be reunited yet Israel is even in Eurovision despite being in Asia.
We have to accept that we live in a group of nations that have some common interests and not try to play morally better than others. The fact Israel faces no sanctions having killed so many innocent while other countries have to endure them, may be right for western interests, but we have to be more honest about the real reason such sanctions are imposed, otherwise we are kind of clowns.
ErnieC]
You are distracting here and trying to divert the discussion to a different topic.
Your first statement, that some of Israels response have been justified, is pretty pointless, as a modern (formerly?) democratic state can be expected to respond in a justified way only, and as even the most ruthless mass murderers in human history have, occasionally, done a justified thing.
Your second statement writing that some of the protests and reactions were anti-semitic is possibly true, but how can protest be required to be perfect, if it’s mainly pointing in the right direction?
And why would you claim that outrage against Israel was selective? People are outraged against a) what affects them directly and b) what is particularly bad or c) particularly visible. And right now, the number of people being made to die in Gaza (often by not letting them have food, clear water or medication) seems to deserve the biggest outrage on a global scale.
Israel is an amazing country, a democratic high-tech society that has evolved in very few years. With a few dark points in its history, but overall, a very impressive achievement. But it has developed cancer – and this cancer is controlling its governement. A government that could possibly be considered as partially antisemitic – not just killing “other children of Abraham” (semitic people) but also destroying the democratic structures of Israel, its reputation, the pride of jewish people throughout the world, and doing almost nothing for the hostages taken by Hamas. In this light, it is not hard to see a reason for protests against a cycling team that is advertising Israel, the country whose government has become a tumor that seems to be pushing the country and the region over the edge of a precipice.
Rendel Harris wrote:
No, because some of the Israels responses have been justified and some of the protests and reactions are anti-semitic. Why is the UN and other countries so quiet about other injustices? It’s selective outrage and that will always irritate me and we will never agree on this.
Actually people did protest
Actually people did protest these regimes during the Arab Spring in 2011 when many citizens of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman lost their lives at the hands of mainly Saudi security forces. It was YOUR country which stood by then and did nothing to help these brave human rights defenders. It was YOUR country who props up and arms these dicatorships to oppress their own people. It was YOUR country which turned a blind eye to the Egyptian coup which removed Egypt’s first ever democratically elected President.
And then you will say Israel is the only democracy in the region (which denies equal rights to Palestinians – and even citizenship to most of them).
Rendel Harris wrote:
This would mean that Iraq and Afghanistan wars were both genocides as well as they had 2-3x more casualties, in much less densely packed combat zones. Hamas report 50,000+ deaths and don’t give breakdowns so saying 17000+ children is pure conjecture.
lycralout wrote:
Hard to tell the whoppers from the truth in any conflict, this one even more so.
Unbelieveable that people
Unbelieveable that people still defend the deliberate mass starving of a population, the deliberate destruction of health care and agriculture, of food distribution and water infrastructure. The mass killing of children and babies, including using sniper fire and missiles fired into tents and hospital wards, the killing of journalists and aid workers. And Israel prevents any independent, foreign media from entering Gaza. Surely, if the media could enter they could verify all that Israel claims. So let the media in – or does Israel want to hide its genocide. That’s the truth – and we all know it. Even those who defend the genocide know it.
50k is a body count, the 2-3x
50k is a body count, the 2-3x casualties are estimates.
The body count for iraq is 100k over 3 years.
Also worth remembering the people counting Gaza’s dead are also being targeted.
We protested the Iraq war too if you remember that.
The Palestinians do give the
The Palestinians do give the names and identity numbers of all of the people who have been identified. (The ID numbers were issued by Isreal and Israel occupies Palestine) So it is quite easy to identify the thousands of children who have been massacred. You are denying a genocide.
lycralout wrote:
Much as I opposed both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, genocide is defined as the systematic attempt to wipe out in whole or in part a national, ethnic, religious or racial group. Neither of those wars fell under that definition, it’s not just a matter of numbers.
The number of casualties in Gaza has been investigated and verified by numerous independent observer groups and expert academic researchers in the field so they are the very opposite of “pure conjecture”.
This is nonsense. Hamas’
This is nonsense. Hamas’ figures are verified body counts. They exclude the missing. They exclude excess mortality arising as a result of the conflict. They are accepted by WHO and UN and most experts in demographic and health statistics as generally reliable estimates of verified deaths directly attributable due to combat. So it is very far from “pure conjecture”.
Of course, the total death toll arising from the war (i.e. excess mortality) will v likley be much higher. It was estimated by The Lancet in July 2024 as 186,000 people:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext
ErnieC wrote:
Like UAE, Bahrain etc but they are deemed to be acceptable and not worth our outrage. Selective outrage smacks of bias and racism to me— bobbinogs
I am pretty sure I have seen protests against both UAE and Bahrains involvement in various sports;
The difference as far as I can see is protests have been signs, campaigning for boycotts (inc documenting those behind it for their involvement), obstructing access etc; Not deliberately trying to cause serious injury to competitors.
ErnieC wrote:
By their very nature, protests tend to be focussed on a single issue … in this case, the behaviour of the Israeli government in its actions in Gaza. The fact that protestors have chosen not to widen that to a protest about everything that is wrong in the Middle East is not a sign of bias and racism (after all, they are protesting the actions of a democratically elected government), except that it is biased in being the issue these particular protestors feel strongly enough about to protest.
Th alternative would be to insist on generic protest, such as these two heroes of the movement …
bobbinogs wrote:
Like UAE, Bahrain etc but they are deemed to be acceptable and not worth our outrage. Selective outrage smacks of bias and racism to me.
Why not target the IPT riders then if it is so important to you instead of trying to bring down “innocent” riders from completely different teams?
Millions of people are being
Millions of people are being deliberately starved and hundreds massacred every day by Isreal. That’s the crime.
The IQ divide grows by the
The IQ divide grows by the day doesn’t it?
Blackthorne wrote:
That’s a bit harsh, for a simple spelling mistake.
Completely agreed, and it is
Completely agreed, and it is the scandal of our time – the first live-streamed genocide, while the supposedly “civilised” and “rules-based” world sits and watches, and in some cases (USA, UK, DE notably) actively enables it with material and political support. The ramifications from this will echo through the coming century – from the total collapse of any moral authority of said “rules based order” and the hastening shift away from the largely unipolar “order” (i.e., the USA and largely sycophantic former old-world-power allies) that mostly ruled the world, to a multi-polar world where many states actively distance themselves – to various extents – from that former order. To the reckoning that will come to a number of individuals – those individuals consider themselves untouchable today, but both they and their protectors will age and their power will dim, and some of them will face justice, eventually (WWII nazis were still being brought to justice till recently; and so today’s genocidal nazis have many decades ahead of them with justice chasing them).
However, this type of “protest” doesn’t do anything to help.
Paul J wrote:
I think you’re extremely optimistic to think that in a more fragmented there will be more “reckoning” (or at least a one most agree on). At best I think that may come in the form of more things like unilateral assassinations (“targetted killings of terrorists / national threats”) and abductions and trials (rendition, anyone – or the effective Chinese “overseas police”)?
As always, the big will lead the way – the US and China (with Russia likely trailing behind now).
chrisonabike wrote:
I don’t think the fragmentation of itself will lead to any reckoning. Rather, I think that with time, there will be new leaders across the various regimes. As time goes on, the leaders today will be out of power and lose their connections to the centres of power. Eventually, there will be leaders of regimes with power over at least some of the ex-leaders with responsibility, who will – for whatever political reasons – wish to distance themselves and their state from this genocide, and thus bring at least some of the genocidaires to justice.
Additionally, judiciaries across the world will bring processes in their own jurisdictions under the universal jurisdiction that exists nearly everywhere for crimes against humanity. We have already seen judicial processes launched even today, though often they are quashed by the state. However, in time, for both the reasons of fragmentation and the reasons of time (as per previous paragraph), there will be more states willing to allow such processes to proceed (or at least, more states no longer willing or required to submit to pressure by the genocidaire states to stop such processes). Eventually, some of the genocidaires will get caught out in some way – travelling to the wrong country, not realising the implications – and fall under the jurisdiction of such a process.
I have to be optimistic and believe that one day we will see at least some responsible, from both Israel and its sponsor states, face criminal consequences for these crimes against humanity. Even if it takes decades.
To not believe this, to not expound the need for this, to not at least try rally others to the same hope and the same will to see justice eventually done – however delayed – would _itself_ be a moral failure, and an almost criminal neglect of the Palestinian people.
Paul J wrote:
This is a hope. I can’t say it’s shown particularly well historically – I think “victors’ justice” or “why dig up the past” are the rule. (Or “condemn them once they’re safely dead”). The latter especially as generally the successor regimes may have embarrassing ties to the former, or their own similar skeletons in closets.
The exceptions themselves are worthy of critical scrutiny: for example Nuremburg brought in some impressive principles but applied these partially and policially. (They probably did as well as they could given the shaky alliance with the Soviets. And an immense gap in what they considered “justice”!)
And e.g. the US didn’t carry that over to Japan, where the approach was much more … pragmatic. (One could of course argue that may have saved a great deal of lives – both for the occupied and the occupiers.)
But perhaps we should simply hold these as an ideal and celebrate the occasional approaches we make towards it?
Well… perhaps taking the bigger picture this region has seen frequent episodes of horrible bloodshed since recorded history, and the most recent fighting has its roots in conflict in… 2007, or was it 2000, or was it 1987, 1982 (Lebanon) or 1967 or 1948 or 1936-39 …
I’m not confident about anyone’s ability to remedy this soon.
chrisonabike wrote:
Taking the bigger, bigger picture, the region has seen bloodshed and – yes! – genocide since even before (properly) recorded history…
Well that’s strongly denied
Well that’s strongly denied by both / all sides. (Who both / all say that they were there first or at least they have god on their side).
Getting on for 3000 years back people there were setting in stone the nasty things they claimed to have done (and wanted people to avoid bringing upon themselves). And there’s history before that…
I blame the monoliths.
I blame the monoliths.
mdavidford wrote:
IIRC from religious studies lessons it’s not so much the monoliths, or even the monotheism, but the monographs (holy books, Batman).
Or a least god (in the shape of his loyal lugal and loons) dictating that other idols (and their worshipers) are incompossible.
Do you mean the 9:4:1 black
Do you mean the 9:4:1 black ones that made apes use bones as weapons?
👀
👀
mdavidford wrote:
The thing’s hollow — it goes on forever — and — oh my God! — it’s full of acorns!
A very worthy cause but
A very worthy cause but endangering people is not the way.
What exactly is the way?
What exactly is the way?
We have tried marching. Across the world literally MILLIONS have marched – and continue to march – to demand action by our governments. They are not listening.
We have tried petitions, lobbying, and Council and Parliamentary Motions. They are not listening.
Yesterday the United Nations warned that 14,000 babies will die in the next 48 hours if aid is not allowed to enter Gaza. Yet still it is blocked by Israel.
What is the right way to stop this madness please?
That’s a false dichotomy that
That’s a false dichotomy that excludes peaceful disruptive (but of course in the UK now mostly illegal) protest.
Think some people need to
Think some people need to take a break from this site & go ride bikes…
EM69 wrote:
Yeah! Especially those who never make any substantive contribution to any discussion beyond making snide little passive-aggressive comments saying that other people should stop commenting and “need taking down a peg or two”. They’re just the worst, aren’t they? Enjoy your ride!
Not everyone can do that.
Not everyone can do that. Ahmed al-Dali used to love cycling until an Israel sniper blew off his leg in Gaza in 2014. He was actually pronouneced dead then but ‘rose from the dead’. He continued to ride for Gaza Sunbirds a team of amputees – mostly victims of IDF snipers’ deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians.
His death was reported this week, as a result of another Israeli air strike on besieged Gaza. He was a father of four and one of many, many professional atheletes, including cycling teams, targeted by Israel:
https://news.sky.com/story/para-cyclist-ahmed-al-dali-killed-by-israeli-airstrike-on-gaza-team-says-13371483
This is why professional cycling must boycott Israel until it upholds international law. It brings shame on our sport that the Giro was hosted in by Israel despite its persecution of Palestinian athletes, and that teams like Israel Premier Tech are still welcome in the pro peloton.
Some people are more annoyed
Some people are more annoyed by this protest than what is cementing itself as the worst crime of the 21st century, the intentional starvation, slaughter and massacring of tens of thousands of civilians.
The Israeli regime says this is what they are doing openly, that starving babies and children are terrorists, that anything is a valid target to secure more land. The bombardment of this sliver of land is worse (in tonnage relative to area) than any war in history, ever. Exceeding London, Nuremburg and Dresden combined during WWII (by April 2024). In early 2024, it was already the most deadly and destructive military campaign in recent history. The IDF have destroyed in whole or in part 80% of schools, 559 mosques, 400k housing units. It has destroyed and damaged farmland, making the trickle of aid and food (none for three months) be even less useful. Israel has now dropped 18 times as much bombs per square kilometre than the US dropped on Vietnam at over 100l tonnes.
Nothing justifies this, which is why Israel supporters will never back down, the only motivation can be colonial expansion and the elimination of a whole people. The only defence for this is to say is that everyone, every media outlet, every goverment, every NGO, journalist, academic, researcher, etc etc is somehow lying, and only the IDF and the Israeli government and its backers (noted war criminals in the US and UK, chiefly) are the ones speaking the truth. It’s beyond absurd. They know they cannot defeat H*mas, because guerilla forces are rarely, if ever, defeated at all, it can only end via diplomacy. You can’t do diplomacy through subjugation. You can’t do diplomacy when you have encircled a strip of land with the largest military in the region, and subjected the other part of the same population to apartheid. Even now, some of the country’s biggest supporters are rolling back their support (in extremely limited ways, albeit), mainly because they’re worried about ending up at the Hague. It could have been stopped within months, if the US, UK, Germany and Italy had pulled the plug on arms exports, they would have ran out of supplies in days.
Poorly executed and potentially dangerous protest, but what else can you expect, people will do stupid and desperate things when all they witness day in, day out, is unimaginable crimes.