{"id":157390,"date":"2025-09-24T11:16:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/157390\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T11:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:16:12","slug":"israel-premier-techs-main-sponsor-demands-team-drops-israel-from-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/157390\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2013Premier Tech\u2019s main sponsor demands team drops ‘Israel’ from name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2013Premier Tech\u2019s main sponsor, Premier Tech, has demanded publicly that the team drops ‘Israel’ from its name and adopts a new identity and brand image.<\/p>\n

In a press release published yesterday, the Canadian multinational company said: \u201cWe are sensitive and attentive to the situation on the international scene, which has evolved considerably since our arrival on the World Tour in 2017\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Premier Tech has been involved in cycling for more than 30 years and said it \u201calways placed the development of the sport and Quebec and Canadian cyclists at the heart of its involvement\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Israel\u2013Premier Tech has supported Canadian cyclists since its inception, including Michael Woods and Derek Gee, who recently terminated his contract with the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the current situation regarding the team name is no longer sustainable to achieve our goal, which is the very reason for our involvement in cycling,\u201d the press release said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StephenFactor has said its sponsorship of Israel\u2013Premier Tech is untenable without a change of name and flag. Simon von Bromley \/ Our Media <\/p>\n

On Monday, Cyclingnews revealed that Factor Bikes had informed the team\u2019s co-founder, Sylvan Adams, that its sponsorship of the team was \u201cuntenable<\/a>\u201d unless it changed its name and nationality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve already told the team: Without a name change, without a flag change, we won’t continue,\u201d said Factor Bikes founder Rob Gitelis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not a matter of right or wrong anymore. It’s become too controversial around our brand, and my responsibility is to my employees and my shareholders, to give them maximum space with which to grow this company and make it profitable,\u201d Gitelis explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Israel\u2013Premier Tech told BikeRadar: \u201cThe team is currently in the planning phase for 2026 team branding and will communicate any potential changes in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pressure on Israel\u2013Premier Tech to change its name follows protests at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a against the participation of Israel\u2013Premier Tech, due to its claimed sportswashing<\/a> of the state of Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Jean Christophe Rattel, the founder of Ekoi, which supplies cycling clothing, sunglasses and helmets to Israel\u2013Premier Tech, told BikeRadar that the company remains committed to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Ekoi, we are driven by passion for the teams we sponsor. Abandoning them in such a moment would feel like an act of cowardice,\u201d said Rattel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rattel explained that when Israel\u2013Premier Tech changed kits at La Vuelta to remove ‘Israel’ due to safety concerns<\/a>, Ekoi produced the new jerseys in three days \u201cto show our support for the team during this difficult context\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA Protest In Ribadeo against Israel’s participation La Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. Carlos Castro \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rattel explained that cycling is facing tough times, with the Ark\u00e9a B&B\u2013Hotel team, which also uses Ekoi equipment, losing its sponsors at the end of this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this environment, both Ekoi and myself remain committed and stand in solidarity with the teams and people who count on us,\u201d said Rattel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an international team, with riders from many different countries, led by a manager I have known for years. I also have personal ties with several of the riders, and walking away now \u2013 simply because of the geopolitical situation \u2013 would feel like betraying them,\u201d Ekoi\u2019s founder explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commenting on Factor Bikes’ decision to distance itself from Israel\u2013Premier Tech, Stephanie Adam, an organiser with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, which called for the protests at La Vuelta, told BikeRadar: \u201cThis step would clearly weaken the team\u2019s underlying goal of providing propaganda for Israeli apartheid and is a tribute to the many protests against the team at major races, including most recently at La Vuelta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis also sends a strong signal to UCI and other sporting bodies that teams sportswashing genocide and apartheid will never be accepted in world sports.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2013Premier Tech\u2019s main sponsor, Premier Tech, has demanded publicly that the team drops ‘Israel’ from its name and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-157390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}