Javier Guillén, director of the Tour of Spain, has appeared on Monday at a press conference after the culmination of this year's edition, marked by the protests against the genocide in Gaza and the participation of the Israel Premier Tech team. Some protests, especially those that forced to suspend the last stage, which he has condemned during his appearance. “I want to regret and condemn what happened in the last stage of the Vuelta,” the press conference started.
“Few comments are elders, the images speak for themselves. Everything that happened, especially in the circuit,” added, added, about the cuts in the streets where the race should pass. “We cannot get anything good out of everything that happened yesterday. I am very sorry for the image that was seen, it should not be repeated again,” he said.
Guillén has assured that “they could live” protests with the practice of sport. However, he has defended that “the integrity of cyclists was manifestly in danger, which forced us to cancel the stage.” “Throughout the return we have been saying. We are a cycling race, we claim that. We are sport and it is what we want to be. We think it takes advantage of the platform for the claim that you want to do, but we demand respect for the race and the athletes,” he added.
The director of the Vuelta has acknowledged that he went to the International Cycling Union, a state that directs this sport in the world, so that “made a decision.” The organization has defended at all times that it could not take a measure as the expulsion of the team, since it could then carry sanctions by the ICU. In response to that request to the international agency, he made a statement defending the permanence of the Israel team. “We have guided ourselves at all times for what they have said,” he said.
Guillén has avoided assessing if the participation of this cycling team should have been avoided, owned by an entrepreneur close to Netanyahu. “The return has always remained neutral,” he added.
Although, he has recognized that this year's edition will sit down a precedent for which “decisions” and “find solutions” will have to be made, avoiding referring if that would be a veto to Israel. “No federation has banned Israel teams. No country has banned any kind of sports activity to Israel. I will not interpret anything, that was their decision,” he said.
In the face of the next year edition and the possibility that these protests are repeated, Guillén has maintained that “hopefully by then the conflict in Gaza has concluded.”