Visma-Lease a Bike general manager Richard Plugge has further criticised the pro-Palestinian protestors who disrupted the Vuelta a España saying “I don’t believe at any point there was a noble aspiration behind it”.
“I’ve never experienced so much hate,” Plugge told Wielerflits. “[By the end] there really wasn’t any attention being drawn to anything any more. It was really about destroying things.”
On Sunday, Jonas Vingegaard was crowned Vuelta champion after the final stage in Madrid was neutralised before the riders entered the finishing circuit. The final official podium ceremony was also cancelled.
The disruption followed neutralisations and stage shortenings on three other stages, including the race’s sole individual time trial. Other incidents included the Israel-Premier Tech team being held up during the Team Time Trial, and several riders crashing due to protestors in or around the road. At least one rider, Movistar’s Javier Romo, abandoned due to the injuries sustained in a crash caused by a protestor.
Plugge, a former journalist and commentator, took over the Dutch team in 2012 when Rabobank withdrew as title sponsors following a series of doping scandals. The team subsequently became known as Belkin, Lotto-Jumbo and Jumbo-Visma before adopting its current name. The team has since won nine Grand Tours and become one of the most successful outfits in the history of the sport.
Plugge is also the former head of the AIGCP, a union representing professional cycling teams, and has been a public face of the Saudi Arabian-funded One Cycling proposal that seeks to reshape and organise the professional cycling calendar.
“As far as I’m concerned, the UCI should have given the Vuelta more support much earlier,” Plugge said.
“I’m not worried about the sport yet. This is something that went beyond sport, something arose in Spain. Normally, the demonstrations are always done with respect for the sport.”
The protestors in Spain were informally supported by the government, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez praising their courage and several regional governments boycotting the ceremonies at the start and finish of stages. Following the race, the UCI and Spanish Government engaged in a heated war of words over their respective responsibilities and the place for sporting neutrality in light of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Barcelona, which is due to host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France next year, and Gran Canaria, which is due to host the finale of next year’s Vuelta a España, have since stated they will not host either event if Israel-Premier Tech is invited to the race, putting next year’s race routes in jeopardy.
Plugge’s criticism of the protestors’ cause as well as their methods goes further than the statements made by most riders and other managers. It also put his star rider Wout van Aert in bother.
In his weekly Instagram photo-dump, Van Aert included this photo of a Canadian poster calling on spectators to say ‘No to the Israeli team’ in reference to Israel-Premier Tech who were competing in Montreal and Quebec at the weekend.
As is the Belgian’s style, his post was light on a caption giving us no additional information to go off until yesterday when the post was suddenly deleted without explanation. Whether it was deleted voluntarily or not isn’t clear. But Van Aert signed a ‘lifetime’ contract with Visma-Lease a Bike earlier in the year, making it unlikely there will be any argument played out in public.
11 thoughts on ““I’ve never experienced so much hatred”: Visma boss claims “no noble cause” behind Vuelta protests, as Wout van Aert quietly deletes anti-Israel post”
Fuck genocide and any country
Fuck genocide and any country that commits genocide
kie7077 wrote:
There are going to be a few countries getting laid tonight.
“I’ve never experienced so
“I’ve never experienced so much hatred”: “I don’t believe at any point there was a noble aspiration behind it”.Visma boss claims
Plugge is also the former head of the AIGCP, a union representing professional cycling teams, and has been a public face of the Saudi Arabian-funded One Cycling proposal
Ah, I see… Paving the way for a safer future for sponsorship by oppressive regimes. We see you.
Clean up pro cycling, get rid of these dodgy money shills. They’re as bad for cycling as the doping doctors.
road.cc wrote:
FTFY
Is that really what happened?
Is that really what happened?
A guy comes running out of the bushes at the peloton, Romo looks round briefly – I mean, if something sudden and unexpected happens, it seems to me quite normal to look at what the ‘danger’ is – and then looks back in quick order. Too late to avoid the clash of wheels but not at all ‘rubbernecking’. If the guy doesn’t run out, Romo has no reason to look around and doesn’t crash.
You know, it’s ok to be pro-Palestine and also to admit that the guy was being a dick and caused the crash.
He didn’t just look around
He didn’t just look around briefly though – he was craning his neck right around over his shoulder to look at what was going on. Whether the person involved was a protester or not was immaterial – it could have been any random spectator who’d tripped and fallen on their face that he was staring at.
I wouldn’t particularly describe myself as ‘pro-Palestine’, and I’m somewhat ambivalent about the merits of some of the protest tactics, but none of that’s particularly relevant, anyway. I just don’t think it’s accurate to describe that crash as “caused by a protester”.
If Israel, UAE, Bahrain and
If Israel, UAE, Bahrain and Astana were not in cycling for political reasons then fair enough. But they are in there for soft political power reasons. So protestors dont bring politics, the UCI already allows it.
If Israel carries on like
If Israel carries on like this then he better get used to it! The nature of road cycling means it is inherently at risk of political disruption more than most sports. It is completely impossible to secure the route from protestors without excluding the public.
Whatever one makes of the protests, if the presence of a team sponsor or team makes a race unviable then the organisers will have no choice but to exclude them. If Israel’s genocide is as unpopular as it is in Spain, then it was plainly foolish to invite IPT to the race.
Crazyhorse wrote:
Technically, they weren’t ‘invited’ – they were there by right as one of the two top-ranked Pro Teams.
I do enjoy pedantry! All
I do enjoy pedantry! All particpants are surely there at the invitation of the organisers. But yes you are right that they earned their place there.
Crazyhorse wrote:
But the organisers don’t get to make a choice as to whether to invite any particular team or not, nor do the teams have a choice as to whether to race or not. It’s a UCI World Tour race so it’s compulsory for all the WT teams to attend. If the organisers had decided not to include IPT then the UCI would have had no choice but to tell all teams not to attend and we’d be in an even bigger mess than we are now.