{"id":329612,"date":"2025-12-05T15:01:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/329612\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T15:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:01:12","slug":"what-did-we-have-to-do-with-it-we-were-a-cycling-team-israel-premier-tech-lost-out-for-political-reasons-claims-sports-director-after-palestine-protests-which-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/329612\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat did we have to do with it? We were a cycling team\u201d: Israel-Premier Tech \u201clost out for political reasons\u201d, claims sports director, after Palestine protests which painted riders and staff as \u201cindecent\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sports director at the newly rebranded NSN Cycling team \u2013 formerly Israel-Premier Tech \u2013 has publicly voiced his frustration at the pro-Palestine protests which engulfed the second half of the 2025 season, claiming the demonstrators focused on cycling as an \u201ceasy target\u201d while painting the team and its staff as \u201cindecent\u201d.<\/p>\n

In November, the team formerly known as Israel-Premier Tech, founded by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams, announced that it was rebranding as NSN Cycling and will race the 2026 campaign under a Swiss licence and with a Spanish identity<\/a>, backed by international sports and entertainment company Never Say Never (NSN) and global investment platform Stoneweg.<\/p>\n

This rebranding exercise proved the culmination of months of turbulence for the formerly Israeli-registered squad, which saw them come under mounting pressure from race organisers, riders, and sponsors<\/a> (with both title sponsor Premier Tech<\/a> and bike brand Factor stepping away from the team<\/a>), as the protests against the squad\u2019s ongoing involvement in cycling\u2019s biggest races, amid the war in Gaza, escalated.<\/p>\n

\"Israel-PremierIsrael-Premier Tech ride past Palestine flags, stage 11, 2025 Vuelta (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

Following demonstrations at the Tour Down Under, Giro d\u2019Italia<\/a>, and Tour de France<\/a>, the protests targeting the team grew to a crescendo in August and September at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. The Spanish grand tour saw activists run onto the road<\/a>, race routes blocked<\/a>, clashes between police and protesters<\/a>, and stages finishes abruptly cancelled<\/a>, including on the final day in Madrid, where several mass protests spilled over into street violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the protests against the squad raged on, the team removed any reference to \u2018Israel\u2019 from their jerseys at certain races<\/a>, became embroiled in a legal battle with wantaway star rider Derek Gee<\/a>, and pulled out of Italy\u2019s autumn classics due to safety concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then, in early October, the squad announced a move away from its Israeli identity for 2026<\/a>, while Adams, who described his team as ambassadors for Israel, announced that he was stepping back from day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n

This month, in a bid to underline the WorldTour squad\u2019s \u2018fresh start\u2019 the newly rebranded NSN team\u2019s riders have been training together in Spain in plain dark blue kit and on their new Scott bikes<\/a>, while the much-anticipated arrival of star signing Biniam Girmay was also confirmed this week. However, Adams\u2019 continued presence at the team\u2019s latest training camp certainly raises questions about how much has actually changed behind the scenes at NSN.<\/p>\n

\"NSNNSN Cycling Team riding Scott bikes at winter training camp, December 2025 (credit: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, for sports director Francesco Frassi, the team\u2019s rebranding represents a new beginning after a difficult, tense, and hostile 2025 season.<\/p>\n

Speaking to bici.pro<\/a>, Frassi, who joined Israel-Premier Tech as a sports director at the start of this year after a decade in the team car at various Italian squads, admitted that the turbulent situation surrounding the team had resulted in a \u201clot of stress\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t at the Vuelta. My colleagues told me about the most intense part of the protest, and I experienced much of it remotely. But we kept in touch constantly,\u201d he told the Italian cycling site.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot being there, I didn\u2019t fully understand what the situation was, even though you could clearly see what was happening on TV. I was in Italy, and for me the \u2018good\u2019 part began later, with the Italian classics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pro-PalestinePro-Palestine protests in Madrid, 2025 Vuelta (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

Referring to the decision to withdraw from Italy\u2019s annual series of autumn one-day races due to security concerns, Frassi continued: \u201cI had my hands full. As an Italian sports director on the team, the organisers naturally called me. The real problem arose with the GS Emilia [the organisers of the Giro dell\u2019Emilia, Trofeo Tessile and Moda, and Memorial Marco Pantani] races.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, in a chain reaction, all the other races. Again, more stress, although less than with the Vuelta. In the end, I experienced it over the phone. I sensed above all the organisers\u2019 fear of not being able to hold the race, because those protests could have stopped everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the team also decided that it wasn\u2019t worth our while to show up at the start. Fortunately, we were confident in our points standings to return to the WorldTour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what it was like to be in the \u2018eye of the storm\u2019 as the protests and hostility against the team grew, Frassi said: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t nice. A few times I found myself, and we found ourselves, faced with bad behaviour in the various races we attended.<\/p>\n

\"Israel-PremierIsrael-Premier Tech\u2019s Marco Frigo rides past spectator with Palestine flag, stage 7, 2025 Vuelta (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in a race in France, the Grand Prix d\u2019Isbergues in September, and not just at the Vuelta. We\u2019d pass under the finish line and they\u2019d give us the finger, they\u2019d shout at us. It wasn\u2019t a nice situation. They\u2019d paint you as an indecent person when you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than stress, it was annoying. Also, what did we have to do with it? We were a cycling team. Yes, we were named Israel, but from a sporting perspective, the owner has a great passion for cycling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s thanks to him that we\u2019ve achieved excellent results over the years, that we\u2019ve become a WorldTour team, that the Giro d\u2019Italia\u2019s Grande Partenza was held [in Israel].<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, for political reasons, we were the ones who lost out. It became clear that cycling is easier to target, while perhaps in a World Cup qualifying match, like Italy versus Israel, no one did anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cIs sport a force for good? Or for battering people into submission?\u201d Former UCI president Brian Cookson on Israel, sportswashing, banning nation state sponsors, and why protests highlight bike race security failures<\/a><\/p>\n

Frassi was also asked if, like Gee, he had considered leaving as the pressure on the squad mounted, or whether he feared that the team would be forced to close its doors at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that. We’ve always felt confident about the future,\u201d he insisted. I have to be honest: our manager Kjell Carlstrom spoke clearly to us and always gave us confidence. He always kept us informed about everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever there was, whether it was a problem or simply a change, he kept everyone, from the first rider to the last member of staff, updated. And he was always clear. This way of communicating helped us feel very calm. He also gave us confidence and peace of mind about the future.<\/p>\n

\"NSNNSN Cycling Team riding Scott bikes at winter training camp, December 2025 (credit: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe explained the idea for the new team to us, showed us the NSN Cycling project, and we understood that there was a clear, solid path forward, ready for 2026. So it was a natural progression.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, we were out of the political turmoil and back to talking about cycling, which is what we wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be honest, there\u2019s a lot of enthusiasm. I just arrived in Rome directly from the training camp in Denia, Spain. The team is working well. There were over 150 of us on the training camp, which shows us the level of performance, management, staff, sports directors, and riders we can achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re truly well-equipped and highly motivated. And definitely more relaxed than before. We’re already prepared for the season, we want to plan and set goals. In a word: we\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sports director at the newly rebranded NSN Cycling team \u2013 formerly Israel-Premier Tech \u2013 has publicly voiced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-329612","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\/329612","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=329612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}