Israel-Premier Tech's Vuelta a España team time trial effort disrupted by protestors

Protesters against Israel's war on Gaza temporarily held up the Israel-Premier Tech squad during their team time trial effort on stage 5 of La Vuelta a España.

The group of protesters blocked the road just a few minutes into the Israeli-based ProTeam effort against the clock around the Catalonian town of Figueres.

Waving Palestinian flags and standing in the middle of the road, the group of five individuals were pushed to the side of the road by police motorbikes riding the route shortly ahead of the team; however, it did not do enough to prevent the team's performance from being impacted.

Several of the eight-man squad were forced to stop briefly as the authorities quickly attempted to clear the route.

The group appeared to be opposing the squad's presence at the race and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

"Israel-Premier Tech respects everyone's right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to protest peacefully, but we absolutely condemn the dangerous acts of the protestors on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España which not only compromised the safety of our riders, race personnel, but the protestors themselves," the team posted to social media after the race.

"The team continues to work with race organizers and relevant authorities to ensure our safety at the Vuelta a España and all races, and ensure any protests do not impact our safety, nor our right to race."

Israel-Premier Tech, owned by Israeli-Canadian businessman Sylvain Adams, have been the target of protests ever since the October 7th attacks that instigated a conflict in the region.

This has led to additional security presence around the team at races, including the Tour de France and last year's Tour of Britain.

Israel-Premier Tech finished the team time trial in 19th place with a time of 26:20, 54 seconds behind stage winners UAE Team Emirates-XRG.