Israel-Premier Tech confirmed not to start in Il Lombardia in latest Italian race to be removed from team program

Israel-Premier Tech will not be present in the final Monument of 2025, Il Lombardia, according to multiple sources, with the team no longer set to appear at the start line in Como on Saturday, October 11.

The latest absence follows the team’s withdrawal of all the Italian autumn semi-Classics from the Giro dell’Emilia on October 4 through to Gran Piemonte on October 9, for security reasons.

It also comes shortly after Israel-Premier Tech announced that it would be rebranding completely next year and, according to a press release, ‘moving away from its current Israeli identity’. The same release said that team owner Sylvan Adams would be stepping back from public duties.

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Israel-Premier Tech have participated in Il Lombardia every year since 2018, with Canada’s Mike Woods taking their best results in the Classic, 12th in 2021 and ninth in 2021.

Israel-Premier Tech have been the target of several pro-Palestine protests amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza in recent months, which saw major disruption to several Vuelta a España stages.

Several of Israel-Premier Tech’s sponsors expressed the desire to remove the word ‘Israel’ from the team name in light of the protests – notably bike brand Factor and title sponsor Premier Tech.

The team is still down to take part in three races before the end of the year, according to its website: Paris-Tours (October 12), the Tour of Guangxi (October 14-19) and the Japan Cup (October 19). Il Lombardia, though, was conspicuous by its absence from the upcoming race program.

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Cyclingnews has reached out to Israel-Premier Tech for comment.

In October 2023, a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparked Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. So far, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 64,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, with much of Gaza being destroyed.