{"id":231311,"date":"2025-10-29T03:28:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T03:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/231311\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T03:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T03:28:16","slug":"we-never-stop-dreaming-israel-optimistic-about-hosting-tour-de-france-grand-depart-in-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/231311\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe never stop dreaming\u201d: Israel \u201coptimistic\u201d about hosting Tour de France Grand D\u00e9part in future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just weeks after the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a was brought to a standstill by pro-Palestine activists protesting against Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s participation in the race<\/a>, the president of the Israeli Cycling Federation has raised the possibility that the nation could stage the Grand D\u00e9part of the Tour de France in the future.<\/p>\n

Israel hosted the opening stages of the Giro d\u2019Italia in 2018, the first time a grand tour had started outside Europe, a decision which led to 120 human rights groups issuing an ultimately unsuccessful appeal to the Giro organisers <\/a>to ditch their plans due to what they described as the state\u2019s \u201cgrave and escalating violations of international law and Palestinians\u2019 human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Dumoulin wins the opening time trial of the 2018 Giro d\u2019Italia in Jerusalem (credit: Massimo Paolone)<\/p>\n

And, now, in the midst of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has already been broken several times in the three weeks since it was declared, Dafna Lang, the president of the Israeli Cycling Federation, has said that staging the start of cycling\u2019s biggest race in Israel remains a \u201cdream\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to L\u2019\u00c9quipe<\/a>, Lang and Sylvan Adams, the Israeli-Canadian billionaire who spearheaded Israel\u2019s Giro bid in 2018 and who recently stepped away from his position as Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s figurehead, have been mulling over the idea of eventually bidding to host the Tour\u2019s Grand D\u00e9part.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you right now that we\u2019re going to bid for the Tour de France or organise it, but we never stop dreaming,\u201d Lang told the French sports newspaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t speak for Sylvan Adams, but I believe that once we have a stable peace, we will realise many projects at the highest level by welcoming the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very optimistic people. We\u2019ve already brought the Giro here; anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"20182018 Giro d\u2019Italia Big Start, Jerusalem (credit: Marco Alpozzi)<\/p>\n

However, Lang noted that she is yet to discuss an Israeli bid for the Tour with UCI president David Lappartient.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Adams claimed last year that he had been in discussions with Tour organisers ASO \u201cso that they follow the example of the Giro, by initiating the start of this legendary race in Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

When contacted by L\u2019\u00c9quipe, ASO declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\"IvanIvan Basso, Alberto Contador, Nir Barkat and Sylvan Adams in Jerusalem (credit: RCS Sport)<\/p>\n

The prospect, however remote at the moment, of a Tour de France Grand D\u00e9part in Israel comes at the end of a season characterised by increasingly robust protests against the Israel-Premier Tech squad.<\/p>\n

These protests against the team, which while not officially state-owned was established with the aim of promoting a \u2018modern vision\u2019 of Israel, and its participation in cycling\u2019s biggest races took place at the Giro d\u2019Italia <\/a>and Tour de France<\/a>, and reached fever pitch at last month\u2019s Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Spanish grand tour saw activists run onto the course and into the peloton<\/a>, roads blocked<\/a>, clashes between police and protesters<\/a>, and stage finishes abruptly cancelled<\/a>, including on the final day in Madrid, where several mass protests spilled over into street violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tension on the roads of Spain and elsewhere has raised concerns about next year\u2019s Tour de France Grand D\u00e9part in Barcelona, making the timing of Lang\u2019s suggestion of an Israeli Tour start even more bizarre.<\/p>\n

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

The team also withdraw from the series of autumn one-day races in Italy due to security fears, along with changing their kit at other events to avoid reference to Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, former riders Jakob Fuglsang and Alesandro De Marchi have spoken out about their unease at riding in IPT colours, and the team is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Derek Gee after the Canadian rider ripped up his contract<\/a> citing concerns about safety and his own personal beliefs.<\/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

And at the start of October, just days before a ceasefire and hostage deal was agreed to tentatively end the fighting in Gaza, things also came to a head in the sporting world, with Israel-Premier Tech announcing that it will change its name and identity from the start of the 2026 season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means the team will no longer operate with the Israel name or with Israeli nationality, while owner Sylvan Adams \u2013 a vocal supporter of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza \u2013 will take a step back and no longer speak on behalf of the team.<\/p>\n

On 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters launched an attack on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. This attack sparked Israel\u2019s latest military campaign in Gaza, where over 67,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past two years, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run health ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just weeks after the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a was brought to a standstill by pro-Palestine activists protesting against Israel-Premier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-231311","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\/231311","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=231311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}