Over 100,000 demonstrators were present in Madrid during Sunday's decisive stage and the race had to be interrupted after 60 kilometers. The protests – which have arisen since Israel-based Israel-Premier Tech participated in the competition – have characterized large parts of the Tour of Spain and several stages have been broken or shortened.
What happened yesterday was completely unacceptable. I regret the image it gave (to the outside world) and it must not be repeated, says competition director Javier Guillen and continues:
It's okay for people to take advantage of the Tour of Spain to make their mark, but we also demand respect for the race.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed on Monday morning his "great admiration" for the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Our stance is clear and firm: as long as the brutality continues, neither Russia nor Israel should participate in any international competitions, says Sánchez.
The cyclists in Israel-Premier Tech have said that they have not felt safe.
They are afraid. They are exposed on the bikes and we do not know what can happen, said Eric Van Lancker, one of the team's sports directors, earlier.
Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard won the competition and thus became the first Dane to take home the "Vueltan".
