The joke went wrong. Spanish runner Mario Aparicio is now persona non grata in China for having… placed an emoji representing a pig’s head next to the Chinese flag on his Strava account, after the first stage.
Engaged in the Tour de Mentougou, which was held from October 12 to 14 in the heart of the Beijing province, with the Spanish team Burgos-Burpellet BH, the 25-year-old cyclist had participated in the good performances of the team in which he has been playing since 2021. In fact, three of his partners finished on the podium in the general classification, including the winner, the Frenchman Clément Alleno.
A real wave in China
But Mario Aparicio quickly lost his smile. His post on Strava, the application used by professional or amateur athletes, mainly running and cycling specialists, to plot their outings, caused a real wave in China.
This simple pig’s face earned him exclusion from the Tour de Mentougou, with race management demanding an apology from the Spaniard and considering that his publication represented “insults towards China”. Faced with the avalanche of negative comments, sometimes going as far as death threats, local authorities went even further. According to Cadena Ser, the 91st in the last Vuelta was even expelled and banned from the country for life! Deleted, the post is no longer visible on his Strava account.
Now banned from setting foot in a Chinese airport, the Spanish runner was exfiltrated at the end of the first stage. After this mishap, there is no doubt that he will no longer mark the date of the Tour du Mentougou in his calendar in the future…
