This Spanish cyclist has been expelled from the Tour de Mentougou for a post on Strava

A few days ago, Burgos-Burpellet-BH dominated the first stage of the Tour de Mentougou, a Chinese race of category 2.2 in their quest for a good haul of points that will allow them to secure their position among the top 30 Pro Teams that will enable them to be invited to La Vuelta in 2026. A stage that was not entirely happy for the Burgos team after it was revealed that the organization decided to expel Mario Aparicio after he posted the corresponding activity of this stage on Strava.

A flag and a pig cost Mario Aparicio expulsion from the Tour de Mentougou in China

Aparicio titled his Strava activity as "E1 tour mentougou" accompanied by the emojis of a pig and the flag of China. The social media platforms of that country, especially Weibo, quickly started to criticize this, as it is considered the Chinese equivalent of X. Even Chinese residents in Spain found this offensive assuming it was a derogatory play on words with the word "cochina" (pig).

From the social media, the cyclist was demanded a public apology for the insult towards China and, as the cyclist himself explained, he even received death threats through these social networks.

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On the other hand, the organization of the Tour de Mentougou decided to expel Mario Aparicio considering that his post constitutes an inappropriate comment that goes against the spirit of sportsmanship, damages the image of the event, and has a negative social impact.

Meanwhile, Mario Aparicio simply stated that his post had no malice. He usually includes the flag of the country where he is competing in the titles of his activities on Strava, and the pig emoji was meant as a joke towards his teammates Carlos García Pierna, Clément Alleno, and Antonio Angulo who finished first, second, and third in the stage respectively.

This situation did not go beyond the anecdotal. Aparicio left the country to return to Spain and the race continued normally, ending with the victory of the Frenchman Clément Alleno, allowing Burgos-Burpellet-BH to consolidate their 28th position in the standings, which will make them eligible to participate in La Vuelta 2026 alongside Kern Pharma (28th) and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (25th).