The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team will not be at the start of the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday, the organizers have announced. The team is the target of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
09.10.2025, 19:37
10.10.2025, 09:28
SDA
"The decision was made by mutual agreement," explained a representative of the organizers. The team's absence from the last major cycling race of the season is the latest development in a movement calling for the team's withdrawal from professional sport.
Israel-Premier Tech, which wants to change its name for next season and remove all references to Israel, has been criticized in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip.
The protests reached unprecedented proportions during the recent Vuelta. Four stages of the Tour of Spain, including the last one in Madrid on September 14, had to be shortened due to pro-Palestinian demonstrations and could not be counted. The protesters demanded the withdrawal of the team, which is owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, among others.
As a result, the organizers of the Giro dell'Emilia decided on 4 October to exclude the team from the one-day race "for reasons of public safety". The team also did not compete in the Italian semi-classics such as the Tre Valli Varesine or the Gran Piemonte.
