The Intermarché cycling team withdrew two of its riders from the Tour de Guangxi on Wednesday October 11, on the eve of the start of this race in China, the first for miming slanted eyes and the second for relaying the images. Initially, the Belgian team had only announced that it was excluding Estonian Madis Mihkels, 20, who can be seen miming slanted eyes in images taken by his Belgian teammate Gerben Thijssen and shared on the team’s Instagram account. the latter, since deleted.
Questioned by several Internet users criticizing a racist gesture, Intermarché then sent a press release also announcing the withdrawal of Gerben Thijssen, 25 years old. “We deeply regret the behavior of our riders Madis Mihkels and Gerben Thijssen and the images that appeared on social networks (…). We have decided to withdraw Madis Mihkels and Gerben Thijssen from the event and will now analyze the disciplinary consequences to be given to this incident,” Intermarché said in its press release.
The World Tour team, the elite of world cycling, apologized “to the Chinese people and fans, to the Guangxi provincial government, to the China Cycling Federation and to all parties involved in the organization of the Tour of Guangxi for the image conveyed of our sport”. The Tour of Guangxi, the last World Tour event on the calendar which takes place in this autonomous region in southern China, is due to start on Thursday from Beihai and arrive next Tuesday in Guilin.