Around thirty people held a demonstration before the start of stage one of the 2024 Tour of Britain in the Scottish Borders town of Kelso, targeting the Israel-Premier Tech team as they signed on for the race.
More demonstrations are expected later in the Tour of Britain, particularly on stage three on Thursday, when the riders start in Sheffield.
In Kelso, there were cheers for double-Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and local rider Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) but the demonstrators whistled and chanted as the Israel-Premier Tech squad, made up of two Australians and four Britons, made their way onto the stage.
It’s almost a year since Hamas, proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Britain, killed more than one thousand people during an attack in Israel and took 251 hostages. A conflict has been ongoing since then, with the scale of Israel’s resulting military operation in Gaza drawing international condemnation.
The protesters congregated in front of the stage for the team presentation, waving Palestinian flags and holding placards. They are part of several pro-Palestine activist groups, including the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Edinburgh Gaza Emergency Committee, who regularly demonstrate at sporting and other high-profile events.
Speaking to Cyclingnews, protesters said that they had targeted the event due to team owner Sylvan Adams’ involvement, calling him a “long-time pro-Israel Zionist.”
“It's just terrible that sports organisations are allowing Israel to have free rein just to send their teams over and pretend that everything's fine,” one protester said.
“I think cyclists need to take a look at their ethics as well. You can't separate life from politics. You can't separate sport or culture or anything from what else is going on in the world.”
The Israel-Premier Tech team have received a similar reception throughout the season across Europe.
Israel-Premier Tech is expected to be a major feature in the race, with the likes of Stevie Williams and Joseph Blackmore among the favourites for the overall classification. No Israeli riders or staff are present at the Tour of Britain.
“Israel-Premier Tech respects everyone’s right to free speech so the protests that are expected at the Tour of Britain do not pose a problem. We are excited to race and continue our strong season,” the team said in a statement.
The 2024 Tour of Britain Men is the first edition of the race put on by British Cycling, after the demise of long-time organisers Sweetspot.
“We fully respect the right of everyone to express their point of view and protest peacefully,” a British Cycling representative said in a statement.
“We ask that people do so with their own safety and the safety of others in mind, and to refrain from action that could compromise people’s safety.”
“We would like to thank our Local Authority partners and the Police for working with us collaboratively to ensure that we prioritise the safety of riders, spectators and everyone involved in the race.”
