• Aqua Blue Sport bus damaged in ‘cowardly arson attack overnight’ • Team vow to continue racing: ‘Nothing is going to stop us’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A suspected arson attack in the southern Spanish city of Almería has destroyed the tour bus of the Aqua Blue Sport cycling team at the Vuelta a España.

A mattress had been placed underneath the Ireland-based team’s bus in the early hours of Thursday and set alight.

Chris Froome crashes twice and has Vuelta lead cut by Vincenzo Nibali Read more

“Our team bus has been completely damaged in a cowardly arson attack over night. No one was injured. Police have arrested a suspect,” said the team on its Twitter account.

Aqua Blue Sport (@AquaBlueSport) Our team bus has been completely damaged in a cowardly arson attack over night. No one was injured. Police have arrested a suspect. #LV2017 pic.twitter.com/SI1u449qO6

The team are competing in their first major tour. They have vowed to continue racing and posted a picture of their riders on a different bus on their way to stage 12, which begins in Motril later on Thursday, with the message: “Nothing is going to stop us starting today’s La Vuelta stage. Thank you for all the support.”

A statement from Spain’s national police force said they had arrested a 55-year-old man who had allegedly caused four fires in Almería.

Aqua Blue Sport, founded this year by the Cork-born millionaire Rick Delanry, are last in the team classification before Thursday’s stage. Chris Froome leads the general classification by 1min 19sec over his nearest challenger, Vincenzo Nibali.