"Israel out of the Tour": a protester disrupts the arrival of the Tour de France in Toulouse

"Israel out of the Tour." This is the image of the day at the Tour de France, overshadowing the victory of Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) over Switzerland's Mauro Schmid (Tudor). The slogan is emblazoned on the white T-shirt of a man, keffiyeh in hand, who sprinted at the same time as the two riders who arrived together at the finish line in Toulouse on Wednesday, July 16. The slogan didn't come out of nowhere: among the Tour de France peloton, one team is the center of attention: Israel Premier-Tech, led by billionaire Sylvan Adams, a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the beginning of the Tour, Libération has seen scattered messages written on the road or its surroundings. From the first stage, 200 meters after kilometer 0, "Israel boycott" and then "Palestine free" appeared, painted in white on the Wattignies roadway. Recently, in Mayenne, a departmental officer slowed down, eyeing some writing on the road suspiciously. "We're looking, because it said "Free Gaza" in the previous village," near Laubrières. In the morning, gendarmes had also passed by, watching for similar messages, campervan owners at the side of the road said.

On the mornings of the stages, in the so-called "paddock" area, where the teams meet, the Israel Premier-Tech bus is heavily guarded: six, even eight armed police officers surround the vehicle, like the