In the wake of the pro-Palestine protests at the Vuelta a España and the targeting of the Israel-Premier Tech team, bike sponsor Factor has met with the team’s owner Sylvan Adams to discuss their ongoing partnership, and more specifically a change in the team name and the nationality.
Speaking exclusively to Cyclingnews, Factor’s founder Rob Gitelis explained that without a name change and a disassociation with the country of Israel, his brand’s position as a sponsor will no longer be tenable.
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Despite being a prominent sponsor of the team, Factor has found itself unable to celebrate victories in the normal way of late. (Image credit: Laura Fletcher)
Pro-Palestine protests have targeted at the team for a long time, with police providing extra security. There were significant protests at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France but the escalations Gitelis mentions centre primarily on the recent Vuelta a España.
The race was marred by huge pro-Palestine protests on a daily basis, with five of the stages forced to be shortened, and two completed without a stage winner.
As a result, the team removed the word Israel from its kit, after earlier removing the name from the team bus and vehicles, and giving team riders unbranded kit to use when training at home.
Adams however, who built the team as a celebration of his home nation, has thus far been unwilling to to formally change the team name and its associated country.
“I think everyone understands that coming off the Vuelta, it’s become a lot more urgent and serious,” Gitelis continued.
“These things take time, registering teams, working with the UCI but I think action needs to start imminently. We’re talking about a full rebranding of the team, if it’s going to take place. That’s a very significant undertaking, as well as moving rider contracts to another country.”
Scroll through any of Factor’s social media feeds and its notably devoid of any mentions of the team. Although Gitelis denies its an intentional dissociation, he admits the brand is unable to celebrate the team given the political sensitivity.
“This isn’t something that started a week ago, 10 days ago, a month ago. This has been going on now since nearly two years. We’ve found it difficult for the past two years to really use and activate the team to the level that we would like to. We’ve been politically sensitive, as it’s a difficult time.
“I wouldn’t say we’re trying to disassociate, but it’s always been difficult to get the maximum activation out of the team that we would like.
“It’s difficult to celebrate the victory of the team, so we’ve been celebrating the victory of the athlete. When Stevie Williams won a Classic [Flèche Wallonne] last year, we celebrated Stevie Williams, we didn’t celebrate Israel-Premier Tech. We were not able to activate it to the level that we would like to.”