In the peloton, there are those who prefer not to talk about the protesters at the Vuelta in Spain and those who, like former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, wanted to express their dissent, emphasizing that the entire cycling movement has lost, unable to rebel against what happened at the Vuelta.

The race that ended on Sunday well before the finish line has become a Vuelta to remember, but for the wrong reason. Pro-Palestinian protesters held the race hostage, with the interruption of the final stage in Madrid: what happened was broadcast live worldwide. This prompted Michal Kwiatkowski to raise an alarm through social media, expressing his concern about everything that occurred during the three weeks of racing in Spain. "The situation can only get worse". This is the thought of the Polish champion, convinced that after the events in Madrid, cycling could be used again in the future by people wanting to demonstrate for various reasons.

"If the UCI and competent bodies have not been able to make the right decisions in time - Kwiatkowski wrote on his Instagram profile - in the long term, the fact that protesters achieved what they wanted is a real damage to cycling. You simply cannot pretend nothing happened".

According to the former world champion, the protesters achieved their objective, conquering entire newspaper pages and main news services. But for Kwiatkowski, this could be a very dangerous precedent that could be repeated multiple times in the future.

"From now on, it is clear to everyone that a cycling race can be used as an effective platform for protests and next time the situation will only get worse, because someone allowed this to happen and looked the other way. It's a shame for the fans who came here to attend a great event. Personally, I would have preferred to know in advance that the race was canceled rather than being led to believe that everything would be fine. See you soon on the road, cycling enthusiasts".

It is difficult to say what could or could not have been done to prevent protesters from entering the race course. The intent of Palestinian supporters was to drive the Israel-Premier Tech team out of the race. The International Cycling Union was clear: according to sporting regulations, Israel-Premier Tech has not committed any offenses and therefore has full right to participate in the race.

Meanwhile, the UCI has condemned the events in Spain, highlighting that it is not possible to instrumentalize sport and use it for political purposes. The statement reads: The UCI strongly condemns the exploitation of sport for political purposes in general, and particularly by a government. Sport must remain autonomous to fulfill its role as an instrument of peace. It is unacceptable and counterproductive that our sport is diverted from its universal mission.

Riders are concerned about what happened and hope that governments and race organizers will take serious measures to ensure that sport is not used for political purposes, always putting the safety of riders first.