{"id":137332,"date":"2025-09-12T00:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/137332\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T00:17:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:17:09","slug":"quebec-bracing-for-protests-with-arrival-of-israel-premier-tech-cycling-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/137332\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec bracing for protests with arrival of Israel-Premier Tech cycling team"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The main pack cycles by Place Royale near the Chateau Frontenac at the 2023 Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec, in Quebec City.Jacques Boissinot\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The global controversy over an Israel<\/a>-affiliated team\u2019s participation in the world cycling<\/a> tour is coming to Canada this week as race organizers in Quebec City and Montreal grapple with possible disruption by pro-Palestinian activists amidst an outcry over the war in Gaza<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Grand Prix Cycliste events in the two cities are bracing for protests against Israel-Premier Tech, a team with deep ties to both Canada and Israel, which has faced mounting opposition since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023. <\/p>\n

The campaign against the team culminated in the past two weeks at the prestigious La Vuelta race in Spain, where Israel\u2013Premier Tech riders were stopped on the road by demonstrators during one stage of the race and officials opted to cut short two other stages to avoid protestors \u2013 a dramatic move for one of cycling\u2019s premier events. Some riders have threatened to quit if there are more disruptions. <\/p>\n

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, who is playing host to the race on Friday ahead of Montreal\u2019s turn on Sunday, has reassured cyclists that significant safety measures are in place, while reaffirming the right of protestors to demonstrate. <\/p>\n

The latest from Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n

The turmoil comes amidst Israel\u2019s escalating war in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says more than 60,000 people have been killed, around half of them women and children, and where the UN has declared a famine as a result of continued fighting and Israeli aid restrictions. Numerous human-rights organizations, including two in Israel, have concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. <\/p>\n

The war<\/a> began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters attacked Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, taking hundreds more hostage. <\/p>\n

The leadership of Israel-Premier Tech has refused calls from some Spanish politicians and others in the cycling world to withdraw from La Vuelta and insists it is going ahead with its participation in the Quebec races. Withdrawing would create a \u201cdangerous precedent,\u201d the team recently said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The team is co-owned by Sylvan Adams, an Israeli-Canadian billionaire who took over his father\u2019s Montreal-based real-estate empire and in the past decade has become an influential figure in professional cycling.<\/p>\n

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Israel-Premier Tech owner Sylvan Adams in Tel Aviv, Israel in April, 2018.JACK GUEZ\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

He immigrated to Israel in 2015 and has been an outspoken defender of the Jewish state on the world stage. Although the government of Israel has no formal ties with the team \u2013 unlike its competitors bankrolled by states like the United Arab Emirates \u2013 Adams has been explicit about his desire to use cycling to burnish Israel\u2019s image. His biography on the website of the World Jewish Congress, where he serves as president of the Israel region, makes the cycling team\u2019s diplomatic mission clear in saying, \u201cIPT carries Israel\u2019s good name around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

The team\u2019s ties with the State of Israel were reaffirmed last week when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity \u2013 congratulated Adams and \u201cIsrael\u2019s cycling team\u201d for remaining in the Vuelta and \u201cnot giving in to hate and intimidation.\u201d <\/p>\n

On-the-ground protests have been heightened by comments from the Spanish foreign minister supporting Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s exclusion from the Vuelta, citing the worldwide treatment of Russian sports teams following the country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n

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Riders of the Israel-Premier Tech team compete as people holding Palestinian flags try to disrupt the 11th stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race last week.Miguel Oses\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Although his team continues to race, Adams removed the word \u201cIsrael\u201d from team jerseys for the last few days of the competition to protect his riders. The team will also ride in \u201cIPT\u201d-branded kit for the Grand Prix events in Quebec as a precaution, event organizers have said. <\/p>\n

Riders have faced several dangerous situations as a result of anti-Israel protests since the war in Gaza began. A protester was charged with assault after attempting to block the road with a length of plastic tape during the final stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia in May, hitting a cyclist at neck level. Local media have reported that the man was protesting the inclusion of Israel-Premier Tech. <\/p>\n

At the Tour de France this summer, another protestor wearing a T-shirt reading \u201cIsrael out of the Tour\u201d was tackled by security staff near the end of a stage in Toulouse as two riders sprinted to the finish line. <\/p>\n

Quebec City\u2019s mayor has vowed that his police force is up to the task of protecting the race, although he said he understood why people are protesting the involvement of an Israel-affiliated team. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation in Gaza is terrible,\u201d he said at a press conference Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s normal that people would be affected or frustrated. It\u2019s completely inhuman what\u2019s happening. \u2026 But there is still a celebration of cycling that we want to have and also allow people who want to protest to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

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A Tour de France staff member attempts to intercept an individual wearing a T-shirt which reads “Israel out of the Tour” during the 11th stage of the Tour de France cycling race this summer.MARCO BERTORELLO\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Internal discord has also wracked Israel-Premier Tech in recent weeks, as star Canadian racer Derek Gee publicly quit the team for unspecified reasons, a decision the team has contested on contractual grounds. Gee is one of several Canadians on the squad, including one-time Tour de France stage winner Hugo Houle and sporting manager Steve Bauer, a former national standout on the bike. Sponsor Premier Tech is a large agriculture and industrial equipment company based in Rivi\u00e8re-du-Loup, Que. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a professional cycling team, Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s sole focus is on racing,\u201d said team spokesperson Phoebe Haymes. \u201cFurthermore, as a team with many Canadian cyclists, the Grand Prix Cyclistes are incredibly important races for the entire team. We look forward to being back on the start line this week in Quebec and Montreal. The team respects everyone\u2019s right to free speech and, as always, the team is in regular communication with the Grand Prix Cyclistes race organizers to ensure that any protests remain peaceful and do not impact the race.\u201d <\/p>\n

The team\u2019s Canadian homecoming will likely be greeted by large protests in Montreal, where pro-Palestinian demonstrations set up a major encampment at McGill University last year.<\/p>\n

Bruce Katz, co-president of the Montreal-based Palestinian and Jewish Unity, accused Adams of \u201ctrying to soften the image of an apartheid state.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Katz said he hoped the protest on Sunday would be peaceful, he added that he could not control demonstrators. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that things will not get out of hand, but it\u2019s to be understood that there are very many people who are extremely upset.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The main pack cycles by Place Royale near the Chateau Frontenac at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,635,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-137332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-cycling","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}