Burgos rider Aparicio kicked out of race in bizarre emoji incident
Burgos-Burpellet-BH may have swept the podium of the Tour of Mentougou, but it wasn't all good news for the Spanish ProTeam at the UCI 2.2-rated event in China. Mario Aparicio was kicked out of the race after a bizarre incident in which he used a pig emoji next to the Chinese flag in the title of the ride he posted to Strava for the day. The post has since been taken down.
According to local media reports, the emojis were taken by some to be derogatory, perhaps even as a stand-in for the Spanish-language term "cochino," which can translate as "filthy pig." Organizers disqualified Aparicio, who even received death threats on social media.
Burgos-Burpellet-BH, however, told El Mundo that the pig emoji was used as part of an in-joke with Aparicio's teammate who had won the opening stage, Carlos García Pierna, which was "unrelated to the Chinese people." The team communicated to organizers "that it was just an unfortunate coincidence." In any case, the race has since ended and Aparicio and his teammates have gone home. [El Mundo]
