Just when you thought next week’s Giro d’Italia Grande Partenza in Jerusalem could not get any more controversial.
Never mind accusations from human rights groups that the race is being used as a political tool by Israel, or the fact that the pre-race favourite will be riding under the threat of a possible doping suspension, news that Lance Armstrong is planning to attend the start of the first grand tour to kick off outside of mainland Europe – to report on it for his Stages podcast – sent cycling message boards and social media into frothy (and entirely predictable) meltdown.
Besides, there are much bigger things to worry about than whether or not Armstrong attends a race; whether the Giro should even be going to Israel, for a start. Whether the race is being used as a tool to “whitewash” the image of the country, as one human rights group has alleged. Whether RCS is completely out of its depth on all this.
Armstrong’s presence in Israel – while it adds another nice little subplot to the overarching narrative – is irrelevant by comparison.
Read the article in the Sydney Morning Herald (from The Telegraph, London).