The images of Israel-Premier Tech stopped yesterday during the team time trial have gone around the world. The team does not want to talk about politics because they are athletes and they came to the Vuelta to race like other teams.

Daryl Impey, sports director of Israel-Premier Tech, who was in the team car when his squad was stopped during the race by a pro-Palestine group, speaks out.

"Everyone somehow saw it. We were doing the team time trial, all in line, and then a group of people jumped in front of us - Impey said, visibly disturbed after the race - Yes, it was really shocking for us as a team, shocking for the riders, many guys were shaken by the incident, so there's not much to say except that we were stunned".

Impey does not want to talk about politics, emphasizing that everyone has the right to demonstrate.

"There's no doubt that one can expect protests to happen, we must encourage people to have freedom of speech, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, that's fine. I mean, what becomes truly disturbing or difficult is when we put our lives in danger and put the lives of the protesters in danger. When riders are going at that speed, the situation becomes dangerous even for those protesting. People stand up for what they believe is right and that's okay, but at the end of the day, no one wants to get hurt, we're all trying to take care of each other, and we're just shocked by what happened".

Impey wants to talk about the race and his guys, who had committed themselves to this race.
"I think the race organizers have taken safety measures for us. Of course, we're in a race and we're moving, but I think the organizers want to make us feel safe. You can't control everything, and this is the first time, as far as I know, that something like this has had a consequence on the race".

Israel-Premier Tech was penalized, but Impey wants to look ahead to what his guys can do in the coming days.
"I think we lost at least 30 seconds, then the jury chose to waive 15. It took a long time to gather everyone, and at that point, I told the guys that we had to stay together. We must think about what we want to do and why we came to the Vuelta. We spent time here last week, we came to see the course. We had a team that was very close to achieving a great result, so I feel sad for my guys, but I'm equally proud of how we behaved".