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The hijacked plane, the dictator, and the cycling championship – CyclingTips
How a president’s assault on free speech threw European track cycling into disarray.

What happens when you cross track cycling, authoritarian regimes and bomb hoaxes? You get a messy situation, that’s what.
Story Highlights
- Whats happening? The European Track Championships, after increasing calls for them to be removed from Minsk, have finally been cancelled by the event organiser.
- Why? Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator in charge of Belarus, orchestrated the hijacking of a commercial flight with a bomb hoax. This was widely seen as a ploy to arrest an opposition journalist.
- Then…
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