Israel is planning a peacetime bid to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, despite the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the near-ostracisation of the Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) team from racing, following pro-Palestinian protests at this year’s Vuelta a España.
In 2018, IPT team owner and entrepreneur, Sylvan Adams, was influential in the Giro d’Italia visiting Israel, the first time a Grand Tour had started outside Europe. But although Adams has had informal discussions with the Tour owners ASO, a start in Israel remains a distant prospect.
“We are very optimistic people. We’ve already brought the Giro d’Italia here; anything is possible,” Dafna Lang, president of the Israeli Cycling Federation, told French media last month.
Adams, an advocate of cycling, was also pivotal to Madonna’s appearance at the 2019 Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv. “I look for vehicles that appeal to massive audiences as a way of showcasing Israel,” he said.
But the Canadian-Israeli has been rocked by recent setbacks, including his team’s decision in the aftermath of the Vuelta protests to move away from their Israeli identity, which he described as “a very painful moment”, and the loss of co-sponsor Premier-Tech. Already, however, his focus appears to have switched to bringing the Tour to Israel. “I can’t speak for Sylvan Adams,” said Lang, “but I believe once we have a stable peace, we’ll realise many projects at the highest level by welcoming the world.”
However, Adams’s passion for Israel was not enough to persuade Premier Tech to keep faith. The shock decision of the Canadian company to withdraw funding, allied to the team’s rift with their star rider, Canada’s Derek Gee, also emphasised how isolated Israeli cycling has now become.
Premier Tech said: “Although we took notice of the decision to change its name for the 2026 season, the core reason for Premier Tech to sponsor the team has been overshadowed to a point where it has become untenable for us to continue as a sponsor.”
The demise of the team, who were heralded by Benjamin Netanyahu during the Vuelta protests for “not giving in to hate” even as race organisers were forced to abandon and cancel stage finishes, has been rapid.
Netanyahu’s high-profile endorsement, allied to Adams’s decision to sue estranged star rider Gee over his decision to quit the team, appears only to have damaged their brand further. Bike supplier Factor bikes had also called for a rebrand in order to continue its sponsorship.
“It’s become too controversial,” said Factor founder, Rob Gitelis, after the Vuelta. “There’s just a certain level of controversy we can’t have around the brand.”
The CEO of Premier Tech is Jean Bélanger, a recipient of the French Legion of Honour and described as a “sincere honest person” with a “great passion for cycling”.
Bélanger has previously spent time in Jerusalem with the IPT team, with Adams describing the relationship between the two Canadians as “very warm”. Premier Tech, based in Quebec and with a stated goal of supporting Canadian cyclists, was conflicted by Gee’s decision to cancel his contract with the team.
Premier Tech’s statement confirmed as much, adding that “supporting the development of Canadian cyclists” was “at the heart” of its commitment to cycling. Gee said he had serious concerns over racing for the team, from a “personal belief standpoint”, and that it “weighed heavily” on his conscience. Adams responded to Gee’s move by threatening to sue him for €30m (£26.5m).
There’s just a certain level of controversy we can’t have around the brand
Rob Gitelis, IPT bike supplier
Further pressure within Canada also contributed to the decision by Premier Tech to withdraw funding. In September, a Montréal-based human rights group asked the city’s mayor to bar the team from competing in that month’s GP Montreal. The Palestinian and Jewish Unity organisation, citing the war in Gaza, stated that the city of Montreal was exposing itself to “a real risk of complicity and whitewashing of these crimes through sport”.
Despite that, Premier Tech’s exit still came as a surprise. In an internal memo sent to riders and staff, the collapse of the sponsor’s relationship with Adams and the team became even more apparent. “This announcement was not made in consultation with the team, which is why we weren’t in a position to inform you internally beforehand,” it read.
Cycling’s fragile funding model, however, ensures that Premier Tech is already understood to have had a stampede of potential suitors to its door, including the Alpecin Deceuninck team.
This is not believed to include Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Grenadiers, although that could have proved an ideal tie-up for the Québec-based company. Gee, who finished fourth in this year’s Giro, is believed to be on the cusp of signing for the British team.
Meanwhile, other nation state-sponsored World Tour teams, such as UAE-Emirates, Bahrain Victorious and the Saudi-backed Jayco-AlUla, will have taken note.
“If you associate your team strongly with a product or a nation or political movement, you shouldn’t be too surprised if the actions of that nation, product, whatever, are bringing the team into disrepute, whether that’s justified or not,” said Brian Cookson, the former president of cycling’s world governing body, the UCI.
Cookson is among those advocating a rule change stipulating that professional teams should not be title-sponsored by a country or regime. Some team managers, even though paid by such sponsors, agree.
“In an ideal world, cycling teams would be like football teams, named after a town or city,” one told The Observer.
“But cycling’s always used that leverage of selling the naming rights of the team, and it can always backfire on you.”
Photograph by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images