• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

No stadium, no arena: Professional road cycling now competes with increasing disruption by protesters on the open road -- where TV coverage and all marketing partners can suffer.

Take the biggest bike race -- The Tour de France. For years, small protests have occurred from time to time with that road cycling event -- which gets heavy worldwide coverage.

Typically, this shows up as protest signage on the road and in front of TV cameras. Occasionally, a couple of protestors can be found sitting in the road attempting to block the racers.

But nothing quite matched what TV viewers and on-air media and marketing executives witnessed during the last stage of the three-week bike Vuelta a Espana race (Tour of Spain)-- where thousands of protestors jammed the roads in the urban circuit around the city of Madrid.

In addition, demonstrators tore down barriers and impeded incoming peloton groups of riders to the finishing circuit. It stopped the race from finishing -- with 60 kilometers to go. So race organizers took the final time for all racers at that point.

Good news for race organizers is that the final day of racing virtually never alters the final overall results -- Jonas Vindegaard of Team Visma/Lease A Bike won the overall three-week race, although it removed one final day rush to the line finish for sprint specialists.

The protests came from pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting the inclusion of the 11-year old World tour cycling Israel-Premier Tech team in the event. Protestors were angry about the country’s military efforts that result in the death of people living in Gaza.

Protests began after October 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out coordinated attacks during a music event in Israel, resulting in the loss of lives and hostages taken.

Israel-Premier Tech started up to develop young Israeli cyclists as professionals. The Israeli government itself does not play any part in the sponsorship.

Premier Tech is a Canadian company focusing on Horticulture & Agriculture, Industrial Equipment, and Environmental Technologies. The team is co-owned by Sylvan Adams, an Israeli-Canadian entrepreneur.

What did this mean for other teams, event and TV sponsors of the race?

The final day of racing can bring large audiences to the TV screen. Major team sponsors were unable to get major on-air TV time marketing exposures with the elimination of the final ceremony honoring the overall and other winners.

In the past, stages in massive three week events have been canceled to major disruptive weather events, rains, floods, snow. Due to those events, many of those 150 kilometer or more races tend to get shortened - with key timing issues stopped and accounted for in the overall race.

Will things go back to normal?

As it so happens, next year's Tour de France is scheduled to start in Barcelona, Spain. That could put the “Grand Depart” in jeopardy for sure -- and perhaps significant consequences for the future of professional road cycling now that organized protesters have had major impact during the Vuelta a Espana.

Imagine if ultra-strategic protestors found their way to buy tickets into a big NFL playoff game, or the Super Bowl, at a key moment late in the fourth quarter.

Could they manage to get on the field and cause a similar disruption and chaos? There would be different kinds of tackling and sacking for sure. But not the kind of viewer engagement brands are typically looking for.