{"id":193879,"date":"2025-10-06T19:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/193879\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T19:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T19:18:11","slug":"israel-premier-tech-to-change-its-name-and-move-away-from-current-identity-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/193879\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Premier Tech to change its name and move away from \u2018current identity\u2019 | Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team, whose participation in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a triggered a series of pro-Palestinian protests that resulted in the race\u2019s premature end last month<\/a>, has announced it will change its name and move away from \u201cits current Israeli identity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The decision comes three weeks after World Tour cycling teams suggested they may boycott races against Israel-Premier Tech because of the team\u2019s refusal to withdraw from the Vuelta and the lack of protection from the International Cycling<\/a> Union (UCI) for its own commercial and sporting interests.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s sponsors had also urged a change of name and image after the team became a focus for protesters demonstrating against Israel\u2019s offensive in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Anger over Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s participation in the Vuelta intensified after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, offered his backing to the team, which is owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Sylvan Adams. \u201cGreat job to Sylvan and Israel\u2019s cycling team for not giving in to hatred and intimidation,\u201d Netanyahu said. \u201cYou make Israel proud!\u201d<\/p>\n

The disruptions throughout the three-week race<\/a> affected multiple stages and led to the cancellation of planned stage finishes and the shortening of the race distance. There were isolated protests during the sport\u2019s other two grand tours, the Giro d\u2019Italia and Tour de France.<\/p>\n

Israel-Premier Tech announced on Monday that it would be rebranding the team, adding that Adams would be relinquishing his current duties. \u201cWith steadfast commitment to our riders, staff, and valued partners, the decision has been made to rename and rebrand the team, moving away from its current Israeli identity,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn sport, progress often requires sacrifice, and this step is essential to securing the future of the team. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Sylvan Adams has chosen to step back from his day-to-day involvement and will no longer speak on behalf of the team, instead focusing on his role as President of the World Jewish Congress, Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the team\u2019s sponsors, the UK-based Factor Bikes, had said its support was conditional on disassociating from Israel. Another sponsor, the Canadian-based manufacturer and horticulture firm Premier Tech, had taken a similar stance, saying it expected that Israel-Premier Tech would \u201cevolve to a new name excluding the term Israel, and that it will adopt a new identity and a new brand image\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although the scrappy end to the Vuelta in Madrid was criticised by rightwing Spanish politicians, the country\u2019s socialist prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, praised those who had protested peacefully<\/a>.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez said he had \u201ca deep admiration and respect\u201d for the cyclists in the Vuelta and for \u201ca Spanish society that mobilises against injustice and defends its ideas in a peaceful manner\u201d.<\/p>\n

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team, whose participation in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a triggered a series of pro-Palestinian protests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-193879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}