Israel – Premier Tech have removed mention of Israel from team vehicles for the 2024 season as a “precautionary measure”. The UCI ProTour team of Chris Froome and Michael Woods this afternoon told road.cc that they “continue to race proudly as Israel – Premier Tech” but took the decision to replace explicit mention of Israel with an “IPT monogram, comprised of the Star of David and the Premier Tech ‘PT’, on the team vehicles and other branded elements”.
The team was keen to stress that this is not a recent development and has been the case since the start of the season, pictures and videos shared on social media from training camps in January and February showing the vehicles with their new branding.
However, the explanation comes following a story published in Barcelona-based daily newspaper SPORT, who are reporting from the Volta a Catalunya and said the team had removed mention of Israel from its cars, buses and mechanic trucks following safety advice from “European police authorities”.
An Israel – Premier Tech spokesperson told road.cc: “We continue to race proudly as Israel – Premier Tech with the team name and Israel branding on the racing kit as it was in previous years. As previously stated, the team adopted a number of precautionary measures ahead of the 2024 season.
“The decision was made to use the IPT monogram, comprised of the Star of David and the Premier Tech ‘PT’, on the team vehicles and other branded elements. The team monogram has been an integral part of the Israel – Premier Tech brand identity since 2023 when it was first adopted on the back of the team jersey and this vehicle branding has been on display since IPT’s first races in Europe in February this year.”
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
The team referenced “a number of precautionary measures ahead of the 2024 season” which were taken to try to ensure rider safety amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, one such measure being that riders were given unmarked training kit in November.
In January, the team’s most famous rider, four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome appeared in a video posted on social media by Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the official State of Israel to promote a cycling event to support Gaza hostages.
In a follow-up interview posted on Israel — Premier Tech’s website, Froome added: “As a human being, as a father myself – I cannot stand idly by”. The team says Froome was “moved to action by the story of the Calderon family, whose father Ofer and 12-year-old son Erez, both cyclists, were abducted on 7 October. The son, Erez, was released after 51 days in captivity, but his father is still being held by Hamas”.
Froome continued: “Their suffering and that of all the other captives deeply affects me, and I call on all cyclists to come out for a solidarity ride that day – just as I will myself – in the hope that this show of support will bring them closer to returning home.”
The family of the unreleased hostage Ofer praised Froome for his support, calling his backing “incredibly important”, but his involvement also drew criticism, some of the reaction to the official video accusing him of “sportswashing” and others questioning the actions of the Israeli government since the October 7 attack.
61 thoughts on ““We continue to race proudly as Israel – Premier Tech”: Israel name removed from cycling team’s vehicles as “precautionary measure””
Proud to support a genocidal
Proud to support a genocidal regime…..
your confused, it’s the other
your confused, it’s the other side that is truly genocidal.
That’s not what the evidence
That’s not what the evidence shows. Just research the atrocities committed by the state of Israel on the Palestinians over the decades. Then listen to the genocidal language of Israeli leadership and the media. Then summarise all the land stolen from the Palestinians and the illegal settlemenst built in Palestine – for Israelis only to live in. then read the reports of aparthied in Palestine – by B’tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty. Then you will get a clearer picture of where the genocide is being committed and by whom
Really?
Really?
Have you bothered to read the history or are you happy to be brainwashed by the msm?
Sorry that was directed at Lozcan.
And as ever, the atrocities
And as ever, the atrocities of 7 October don’t get a mention.
The list of atrocities
The list of atrocities committed on the Palestinians go back decades and are documented. They are not reported however. Just look at the number of civilians murdered by illegal settlers and the Occupation Forces in the West Bank – in the past 12 monthsalone. Palestinians have suffered aparthied, house demolitions, land seizures, kidnappings and imprisonment without charge, summary executions, beatings and the whole matrix of occupation for over 7 decades – and not just 1 day.
While that is true, why don’t
While that is true, why don’t we start listing all the atrocities committed and the death toll.
One side backed with money, weapons and personnel from the US, UK etc against a people with basically stones. Yeah, fair fight.
it’s almost like your
it’s almost like your understanding of the history starts and ends with one day..
Car Delenda Est wrote:
Well, it was an okay TV series, definitely better than the film
Can’t be genocide when the
Sad.
How we have fallen; such is
How we have fallen; such is the rampant spread of antisemitic Islam
makes me sad beyond words.
There are thousands of
We’ve had more brutal & longer occupations in human history, but this has got to be the first where the occupier masquerades as a victim, as they continue the genocide and killing of thousands!
Junaid wrote:
1000+ Israeli civilians were murdered on October 7th, so without in any way implying any approval of their retaliation, which is clearly grossly disproportionate, it’s absolute nonsense to accuse them of masquerading as victims, they were victims. As for saying it’s the first occupation where the occupier claims victimhood, more nonsense, you don’t have to go too far back in history to find the USA occupying Iraq and Afghanistan on the spurious pretext of 9/11.
Rendel Harris wrote:
1000+ Israeli civilians were murdered on October 7th, so without in any way implying any approval of their retaliation, which is clearly grossly disproportionate, it’s absolute nonsense to accuse them of masquerading as victims, they were victims. As for saying it’s the first occupation where the occupier claims victimhood, more nonsense, you don’t have to go too far back in history to find the USA occupying Iraq and Afghanistan on the spurious pretext of 9/11.— Junaid
I don’t think that was what Junaid was saying, Rendel. I think they were talking about how the Israeli Govt seems to handwave any criticism away by saying, “Yes, but look what happened in the 1930s in Europe”.
At times they do seem to get dangerously close to using the Holocaust as a justification/defence for their actions. For any of their actions.
Rendel Harris wrote:
It is not true that 1000+ civilians were murdered. By Israel’s own figures, nearly 600 of the dead were Israeli military members. E.g., Hamas attacked IOF military bases and outposts – which are entirely legitimate military targets for resistance forces fighting against an illegitimate military force.
By reportage in Israeli press, based on testimony of civilian survivors and military, Israeli military response on the day involved *shelling* kibbutzes with tanks and using helicopters to shoot every moving vehicle around. By survivor testimony, the IOF response itself killed many people.
So we’re at about 400 to 600 dead civilians. And some unknown – but non-trivial – proportion of those were not murdered by Hamas, but murdered by the IOF.
This is not to excuse murder of civilians. It is simply never justified in war. Regardless. Whether by Hamas, or by the IOF. There are no excuses, and “But the other side made me do it” doesn’t cut it – especially not when uttered by the more powerful controlling power.
Counting just from October 7th onward, the IOF is responsible for at least 40 times more murders of civilians (erring in Israel’s favour in assuming every dead male in Gaza was a “terrorist”) than Hamas. If we look at the history of the Israeli state, it is much worse.
Israel is a fundamentally genocidal state. It is built on murder, theft and racist apartheid. Until it ceases its oppression and genocide, until it makes some lasting peace with those it has wronged, in a *mutually agreeable* way, it can have no legitimacy in the eyes of any decent human being.
This comment is full of lies,
This comment is full of lies, hate and inaccuracies. Certainly sounds like you are justifying the burning alive of soldiers and the kidnapping and raping of female soldiers who are still held captive in Gaza and continue to be raped. IDF called Gaza civilians to evacuate and never purposefully murders civilians. But continue to believe these lies, you probably feel morally superior to Israelis. There is no one to make peace with, Hamas doesn’t want any peace or ceasefire.
Judith Acre wrote:
Can I ask where the civilians were meant to evacuate to?
I mean, they were all told to go to the south, then not that bit of the south, then not that bit of the south, then it became “we’re going to play Battleships and you’ll get a grid reference of where is supposed to be safe today. Unless we change our mind at the last minute – better make sure you’ve got a good mobile network connection so you can check.”
Judith Acre wrote:
That Israeli military shelled and rocketed kibbutzes and fleeing cars, and killed Israeli civilians, is documented in *the Israeli media*, Ha’aretz and 1 other I don’t have the name of to hand right now.
It is perfectly legitimate for Hamas to attack the soldiers of a force that has been engaging in war crimes against its people for decades – in particular, Israel has kept Gaza under siege, including /counting/ calories since the 00s. Which is a war crime against a civilian population. It is entirely legitimate to attack such soldiers in resistance – soldiers manning the very outposts from which Israel *shoots* an Gazan who tries to use the land near the walls.
There is little solid evidence of rape, though I do not say it did not happen. However, much of the narrative of rape on Oct 7th comes from a discredited source.
Hamas does want peace. It – like most of the world – would agree to a 2-state solution based on 1968 borders. Israel rejects that. Further, the dominant political party in Israel of the last 35 years – Likud – was expressly setup to *oppose* any kind of 2-state solution. “From the river to the sea” has been bandied around a lot recently, but it comes from *Likud’s* founding rationale – only Israel from the river to the sea.
Indeed, many Likudis believe in an Eretz Israel – a “greater” Israel – that expands to take much of Lebanon and parts of Syria too. And Israel today is already occupying parts of Lebanon and Syria, illegally.
Israel is a state fundamentally created to steal land. And it is governed by a party which expressly wants to steal _more_ land.
It is not a state that wants peace.
You need to go back to 1948
You need to go back to 1948 when the first victims were Palestinians and it had continued for 40 years before Hamas was even created. When you suffer for decades then fight your oppressor you have legitimacy. I don’t condone any attack on civilians on either side but they have a full legal and moral right to defend their country from an invading military or armed miitias – as we do.
stevemaiden wrote:
Attacks on civilians – from either side, as you say, and God knows Israel are horrendously guilty of that now and over the past seventy-odd years – do not come under “full legal and moral rights of defence” by any stretch of the imagination.
For the record, as it seems one cannot express the slightest nuance without being accused of being 100% pro-Israel, I fully support the Palestinian right to statehood and believe Israel should be made to withdraw within her 1948 boundaries, and I went on a number of protests regarding such issues long before it was fashionable. However, my sympathy for the Palestinian cause does not mean I regard the October 7th attacks on civilians as anything other than terrorism, and I regard Israel’s subsequent behaviour in Gaza as the same thing.
You mean they were finally
You mean they were finally attacked for occupying stolen land.
No one would mean that unless
No one would mean that unless they considered rape, torture, murder and kidnapping a legitimate response to someone else having occupied stolen land–as you presumably do.
Actually the occupation of
Actually the occupation of Palestine is the longest in modern history. The rate of killing of children and women in occupied Palestine by Israel is the fastest recorded ever in history. The siege on Gaza is the longest in modern history. Never before has an entire population been subjected to starvation as weapon of war. Famine has been used as a weapon of war previously but this is the first time in recorded history an entire population has been subjected to starvation by a genocidal state.
BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:
There really is nothing new under the sun and saying something is the “first time in history” is always pretty dubious. Look up the Holomodor, in which Stalin deliberately starved the population of Ukraine in order to suppress Ukrainian nationalism, killing an estimated 3.9 million people.
I do know about the
I do know about the starvation imposed on the Ukraine in the 1930s. But I wasn’t including that. By ‘modern’ I meant post 1945. The difference now, obvioulsy, is that the deliberate starvation and barbarity is recorded and visible not least becuase Israeli occupiers post their war crimes on-line such is their level of impunity.
BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:
You didn’t actually say modern history (the 1930s are of course part of modern history anyway), you said that “this is the first time in recorded history an entire population has been subjected to starvation by a genocidal state.” In any case, even if you meant to say post 1945, it would still not be true. See, for example, the Nigerian government blockade of Biafra, 1967-1970, which starved approximately one million people to death.
Check your “facts”.
Check your “facts”.
And wait for this terror to hit your home before you believe all these “facts” you so easily spread.
Oh, it’s definitely not the
Oh, it’s definitely not the first?
So Russian teams banned,
So Russian teams banned, Russian athletes forced to compete under a neutral flag.
Yet…
3 things:
3 things:
– Critique of Israeli politics and warfare is not antisemitism.
– It equally isn’t an excuse of Hamas terrorism.
– Whoever uses the Holocaust to justify actual Israeli politics has drawn the totally wrong conclusions.
We have to admit that all
We have to admit that all these moral superiority games rely mostly on what your environment is.
Just a year earlier, Russian citizens living in western countries faced extreme oppression when Russia tried to do for Russians at Eastern Ukraine more or less what West did for Albanians living in Southern Serbia (this area may be now heard more familiar to you as Kosovo). But not really elsewhere else. On contrary the West has been several times been demonized when a nation (usually somehow related with oil trade) needs “help” whereas right now Haitians right next to US live a nightmare life many years now.
I feel sorry both nations in Middle East. In Gaza life was already absolutely miserable even before last October, and while Israelis have an extremely high level of life, they didn’t have a land to feel free to stay without the risk facing a pongrom or a genocide but the one they picked was in the middle of practically single nation, that in turn weren’t that happy to see their lands lost. But whether they will be hated or not, depends mostly when they are.
More or less? That’s bold.
More or less? That’s bold. Any Russians in east Ukraine were free to leave. Do you mean Ukrainians born and bred? You are equating NATO saving civilians from detention camps where they were shown on the news starving and found buried in mass graves in the forrests with the Russian military which slaughtered a hundred people on the streets of Bucha and kidnapped mayors and politicians in occupied Ukraine and tortured them leaving them dead in ditches. They also enforced a rigged election and kidnapped 20,000 children who were taken to Russia. More or less??
It is more or less for me.
It is more or less for me. The door was always open to Albania, cities were bombed. I am no history buff, so I just googled for “kosovo war detainment camps” and the first to appear was that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapu%C5%A1nik_prison_camp . There is no scale to weight and compare crimes, war is war and invasion or revisionism or borders are no good things.
@john_smith not really. Getting originally greeted with a smile and when telling being a Russian facing an immense bullying out of nowhere or getting stuck in a country abroad while being there legally with banned access to your money and it will not seem very nice. I have friends from Russia very far from war mentality and trust me they have been humiliated out of nowhere just for being born and now facing many practical difficulties.
Israelis have had and probably have similar problems in even greater extent, as they can be the subject of hate anywhere possible for the most minor of reasons. But at least they can compensate with being financially very strong and always open to developmen and that is how they managed to survive all these years.
End putting labels on people just by seeing them or hearing information about them that they cannot control and the world will be better.
The only Russian citizens
The only Russian citizens facing oppression in the west are the ones who speak out against Mr Putin.
Israel should be excluded
Israel should be excluded from representation in international sport, just as Russia has been.
That the UCI allows Israeli registered teams to race, given the precedent of its actions against Russian registered entities, is sheer hypocrisy. IPT should be banned from UCI racing.
Definitely all for that. Of
Definitely all for that. Of course, the US should also be removed. They had similar doping coverups and never got even a slap on the wrist. Plus, Israel wouldn’t be able to do any of what they’re doing without the US.
Yeah right. Another Putin boy
Yeah right. Another Putin apologist who can’t see any difference between Hamas and the Ukrainian government.
You can’t read very well can
You can’t read very well can you? Of course they’re different. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t both be excluded. Also, why did you bring Hamas up out of nowhere?
Hamas atrocities are the only
Hamas atrocities are the only reason for the current situation in Gaza. “Out of nowhere”?? Ridiculous
Excluded for what? Going to
Excluded for what? Going to war with an enemy that entered its own territory illegally to murder over a thousand civilians. I’ve no skin in the game, but Israel’s retaliation against an aggressor is in no way comparable to Russia’s invasion of peaceful sovereign country.
True
True
I think everyone is missing
I think everyone is missing the million dollar question. Do you reckon this gesture is enough to get Froome a place on the IPT, sorry I mean PT, Tour De France squad?
In all seriousness, this is Froome spaffing up the wall the last vestige of what little credibility he still had. He should stick to b*tching about disc brakes and saddle height.
Once Froome is recovered from
Once Froome is recovered from his recent crash, he will move his saddle an additional 3cm and win 4 more Tours.
Did Bahrain feel the need to
Did Bahrain feel the need to be ambrassed when they shot protestors in the arab spring?
As for poor treatment of the ‘palastinians’, perhaps people should ask why the Lebaneese/ Egyptions/Syrians/Jordanians don’t welcome them with open arms. In fact when they did show hospitality in the past it often ended in conflict and violence.
Wow, that’s an incredble take
Wow, that’s an incredble take on the situation. I’m guessing with you use of quotes you don’t recognise Palestinians as legitimate? So does that excuse that Israel are carrying out mass extermination of them?
Neither Bahrain or Israel’s
Neither Bahrain or Israel’s namesake and money should be allowed in the sport. Same thing goes for the UAE too
Palestine doesn’t seem to
Palestine doesn’t seem to have clearly defined borders, it seems to me it should include the residents of Israel too (see Golda Meir). That’s why I put it in quotes.
There is no extermination,
There is no extermination, there are terrorists holding hostages under schools, hospitals and in homes, and an army disarming terror infrastructures.
Condemning Israel alone is supporting terror. Wake up.
Judith Acre wrote:
You are Benjamin Netanyahu and I claim my £5 😀
Apparently he’s got rather
Apparently he’s got rather mixed personal support but there is generally support for the war (I’m not sure if that’s the right word here). And far fewer people there are terribly concerned about the other side – if it means they don’t feel safe from people killing them or their loved ones. And the same is apparently true for popular support for Hamas in the Gaza strip.
chrisonabike wrote:
Did you see this, back in February? Scary.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/feb/06/israelis-carry-arms-in-public-in-pictures
Manchestercyclist wrote:
If, as one assumes you are, you are referring to Bahrain Victorious, they wouldn’t have had a chance to be embarrassed because the team has only existed since 2017, long after the events of the Arab spring. If, as one further assumes, you are contrasting the treatment of IPT with that of teams sponsored by other Middle Eastern regimes, there have been plenty of comments here and elsewhere about the human rights records of those sponsors, in fact until the latest outbreak of hostilities there was far more focus on their sportswashing activities than there was on Israel’s.
Fair enough, although they
Fair enough, although they continue to repress the minority groups with arbitrary detention and behaviour not dissimilar to that in Israel. I can’t help but wonder if that fact that both the oppressor and the oppressed are both Muslim (albeit different sects) makes it difficult to pass judgement on in comparison.
Wrong forum
Wrong forum
I do not wish any of you to
I do not wish any of you to be subject to southnds of rockets, murders, torture, rape or kidnapping as Israelis have been in recent months. And if it happened to you, wouldn’t you expect your country to fight the terrorists back and bring you or your loved ones back? Very easy to judge from the safety of your home and be blind to the sad truth that the terrorists act from among civilians and rejoice in their high death toll. Nothing like Russia and never will be.
Judith Acre wrote:
So if someone had been murdering, torturing, raping, kidnapping your people, and also stealing your land, bulldozing your olive trees and houses, pouring cement down your wells, then you are saying one should *expect* those subjected to that to fight back against those terrorists?
You are well aware that Israel has been doing those things for decades, right?
Israel has not been doing
Israel has not been doing those things. And the victims of Hamas’ actions on 7 October were not terrorists.
Half of the victims on Oct
Half of the victims on Oct 7th were members of the colonial-terrorist military. Not at all innocent. Further, some number of the Israelis killed that day were killed by deliberate fire by said colonial-terrorist forces on cars and villages, by Apache helicopters and tanks. We do not know how many, probably never will, but it may well be in the hundreds.
And Israel *regularly* does all the things I described above – daily in fact. E.g., it holds thousands hostage in barbarous torture prisons. Israel is one of the most repressive regimes on the planet.
Mods, time to close this
Mods, time to close this thread now? Everyone’s had their say and now you’re getting people who have never been on this site before clearly joining just to promote their political views… I know we go off on tangents all the time here but I’m feeling like this one has gone far enough now. There’s a difference between a bunch of cyclists arguing over Israel/Palestine, or the EU, or whatever, and the discussion boards just turning into a free for all including people with no interest in cycling.
It certainly does seem that
It certainly does seem that “Judith Acre” has gone along and replied on every single thread.
(I’m not blameless, I responded to them).
Seconded. Not wanting to
Seconded. Not wanting to “censor discussion” but I think this thread has just become part of a continuous one that’s been going on for longer than “helmet row” and anything cycle-related left the chat time back.