Canadian professional cyclist Derek Gee says he is facing a €30 million damages claim from Israel-Premier Tech after attempting to terminate his contract with the team, which will change its name and branding for 2026 after being the subject of several pro-Palestine protests this season.
In a statement issued on social media on Thursday, Gee defended his decision to leave Israel-Premier Tech with three years remaining on his contract, citing an “irreparable relationship” with the team and “serious concerns” about continuing racing in the squad’s colours, from both a safety and “personal-belief standpoint that weighed heavily on my conscience”.
Earlier this week, after months of controversy, Israel-Premier Tech announced that it will change its name and identity from the start of the 2026 season, with owner Sylvan Adams also stepping back from day-to-day involvement and “no longer speak[ing] on behalf of the team”.
The move came after the team was subject to several protests in recent months concerning its links to the state of Israel and the squad’s involvement in cycling’s biggest races amid the conflict in Gaza, described by the United Nations as a genocide.
These pro-Palestine demonstrations, which also took place at this year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, reached a frenzied crescendo at a chaotic, turbulent Vuelta a España last month, where the team was forced to ride in jerseys without reference to ‘Israel’.
The Spanish grand tour saw activists run onto the road, roads blocked, clashes between police and protesters, and stage finishes abruptly cancelled, including on the final day in Madrid, where several mass protests spilled over into street violence.
Gee, who finished fourth at this year’s Giro d’Italia, was due to race the Vuelta for Israel-Premier Tech but was withdrawn from the team’s line-up at the last minute.
On the eve of the race, Israel-Premier Tech revealed that they were “unexpectedly issued a notice of termination” from lawyers representing Gee in early August, despite the 28-year-old having signed a five-year extension in 2023 tying him to the squad until the end of 2028.
Gee later responded by confirming that he had terminated his contract and claiming that “certain issues simply made my continuation at the team untenable”. And with Israel-Premier Tech continuing to maintain that his contract is still valid until 2028, the case is currently being considered by the UCI.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Gee expanded on his reasons for leaving the team, defended his reasons for unilaterally terminating his long-term deal, and revealed the serious financial penalty he now potentially faces for such a decision.
“I would like to address and clarify some speculation regarding my current situation, following recent public statements made by my former team that my case is currently with the UCI arbitral board,” the Canadian champion, who last raced in June on his way to winning his national title, posted on social media.
“I know many people have been expecting an update, and while I cannot comment on any ongoing proceedings, I feel it is very important to share my side of the story.
“I terminated my contract with just cause, as is every person’s right when they are unable to continue performing their work under the existing circumstances.
“This decision was not taken lightly – it followed an irreparable relationship with the team principal, as well as serious concerns related to racing for the team, both from a safety and personal belief standpoint that weighed heavily on my conscience.”
He continued: “But what moves me most is how, when human issues are involved, money becomes the headline; money was not the issue that led to my termination. Leaving has meant the risk of having no team or protection if I get injured without contract. It is a risk I was – and am still willing – to take, as I was simply unable to continue racing for the team.
“I understand the team sees it differently, and that this will be for the competent authorities to decide; however, I am now facing what I understand to be a damages claim said to exceed approximately 30 million euros – for doing nothing more than exercising my fundamental rights as a professional and a person.
“These are not the kind of numbers, or the kind of situation, any athlete expects when they dream of becoming a professional cyclist, and I believe it flies in the face of the very values that sport seeks to uphold. These actions are also a reflection of the very issues that led to the breakdown of the relationship to begin with.
“It strengthens my belief that leaving the team was the right decision, regardless of the recent announcement of branding changes and cosmetic structural shifts.”
When approached for comment by road.cc, a spokesperson for Israel-Premier Tech said: “Derek Gee’s contract termination case is currently before the UCI Arbitral Board. For this reason, the team is unable to comment on the matter.”
Gee began his professional career with the UCI ProTeam in 2023, stepping up from its Israel Cycling Academy development squad.
After a breakthrough ride at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, where he finished second on four stages, he has since gone on to become one of the team’s most successful riders.
He won a stage at last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné before finishing ninth at his debut Tour de France later that summer. In 2025, he won a stage and the overall at O Gran Camiño in Spain and finished fourth overall at the Giro, his best grand tour GC performance to date, with his last race coming in June at the Canadian national road race championships, which he won.
Gee’s decision to leave Israel-Premier Tech mid-contract has fuelled speculation, first reported by Daniel Benson, that he is heading to the Ineos Grenadiers, where former team principal Dave Brailsford has returned to lead a new recruitment drive ahead of the 2026 season.
If Gee’s contract termination is upheld by the UCI, he will join a number of high-profile riders set to leave the squad this winter, including promising American Matthew Riccitello and the retiring Michael Woods.
In August, before news of Gee’s situation emerged, Danish pro Jakob Fuglsang, who retired earlier this year after spending the last three and a half years of his career with the team, said it was “definitely nicer to ride without an Israel logo than with it”.
Meanwhile, Jayco-AlUla rider Alessandro De Marchi, who represented IPT in 2021 and 2022, similarly told the Observer he was “happy and relieved” not to race for the squad anymore, before calling on the UCI to “show that as a cycling world we care about human rights and international law violations”.
“We need to see real action from our governing body to position the cycling world on the right side and to show awareness of what’s going on in Gaza,” De Marchi said.
Nevertheless, on Friday morning, the squad announced that four riders, George Bennett, Guillaume Boivin, Hugo Hofstetter, and Nick Schultz, had agreed contract extensions, tying them to the team until at least the end of 2026.
Those extensions were confirmed in the same week that Israel-Premier Tech, amid mounting pressure from sponsors and stakeholders, confirmed it will “rename and rebrand” ahead of the 2026 season, a move the team says is essential to securing its long-term future in the sport.
Emphasising that the team “is, and always has been, a sporting project”, IPT said in a statement: “With steadfast commitment to our riders, staff, and valued partners, the decision has been made to rename and rebrand the team, moving away from its current Israeli identity. In sport, progress often requires sacrifice, and this step is essential to securing the future of the team.
“Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Sylvan Adams has chosen to step back from his day-to-day involvement and will no longer speak on behalf of the team, instead focusing on his role as President of the World Jewish Congress, Israel.”
Despite what its name and branding, at least until the end of 2025, might suggest – especially in a sport where Bahrain and the UAE also serve as title sponsors – Israel-Premier Tech is not officially state-owned.
Instead, it was founded by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Adams, one of Canada’s biggest real estate investors, who emigrated to Israel in 2015.
Nevertheless, the squad has received some funding from Israel’s ministry for tourism and Adams – who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration, encouraged US attacks on Iran in June, and called on Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza – has described the team as “ambassadors” for Israel and a means of promoting a “more realistic vision” of modern Israel.
23 thoughts on “Former Israel-Premier Tech rider Derek Gee facing €30 million damages claim after terminating contract with team on “safety and personal belief” grounds”
Derek Gee wrote:
Surely one of the values the sport seeks to uphold in its professional iteration is that a contract is a contract and you can’t just withdraw from it on your personal whim? Nothing to do with the rights and wrongs of whether IPT should be permitted to race or the wider moral questions of the tragedies of the Levant; if you choose to sign a contract and then choose to break it it’s only to be expected that the other party will seek recompense for your actions and it’s ridiculous to accuse them of being in violation of “the very values that sport seeks to uphold”. Any sports team whose athletes broke their contract in this way would do the same.
Saying you cant speak due to
Saying you cant speak due to ongoing legal action and then continuing to do the exact opposite is likely to be counterproductive for him, it makes you a bad faith actor legally speaking, and shows he’s taking legal advice lightly.
I hope he’s got good legal advice and is actually listening to them.
Regardless of the outcome of
Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing legal dispute, other team owners may think twice before hiring Gee. A man who signed a 5-year contract extension with IPT. The explosive situation in the Middle East, Gaza in particular, has made the headlines for decades.
He may not be available. In
He may not be available. In a former life, if my coverage (sales) people wanted to quit, they could, but they had long notice periods during which they wouldn’t be able to talk to our clients (in this case train with the team or race in our colours) or work for a competitor and the regulator (e.g. the UCI) would ensure that.
His contract would have termination clauses. Since this was his first contract, they were probably stacked against him – giving the team the right to boot him out for e.g. doping violations but giving him not much wiggle room at all. Had he been an established rider then it might be different – I bet Remco has a clause enabling him to leave RB if the team does something he doesn’t want to be associated with.
What we know from this article is that his lawyers told the team he wanted out – that’s a bit unprofessional – but they obviously felt something had changed since he signed the contract in 2023 that meant he could extract himself and there are a number of angles that might apply, such as safety in the face of protests (he could claim the team weren’t doing enough to keep him safe – there might be a clause covering that intending to be from an equipment perspective that his lawyers felt they could use) or that there’s some sort of force majeure; the obvious one would be the UN using the word “genocide” sorta kinda relating to his title sponsor. Again, I bet Remco can extricate himself from his new team if it subsequently turns out the headline sponsor’s product has the tears of starving children as an ingredient in the can.
so …yes and no. Other teams might not like the way he handled it, but if being a bit of an arse was an impediment to getting a new contract, I could think of a few riders who would have been on the dole; for example if you haven’t already done so, have a read of JV’s account of Wiggins’ conduct when he wanted out of Garmin.
> but they had long notice
> but they had long notice periods during which they wouldn’t be able to talk to our clients (in this case train with the team or race in our colours) or work for a competitor and the regulator (e.g. the UCI) would ensure that.
Generally not enforceable over here, unless you are also paying them. A contract requires consideration in each direction to be valid.
For context, Gee was shaping
For context, Gee was shaping up well as a GC rider, getting notable results. Soccer players do much worse than this. They down tools until they get a transfer.
Gee has every (human) right to withdraw his services when his employer was cheerleading genocide. It would make anyone with humanity do the same thing. We shouldn’t expect our sports people to be heros but he is – he has courage.
Cheerleading genocide? What a
Cheerleading genocide? What a predictble and pathetic comment yet again….
Though I wonder where you are going to focus your energy and hate now that the war thankfully appears over…. (George Soros?)
(And no. A cyclist getting paid tons of money to ride for any team doesn’t just get to withdraw and expect no repercussions. That’s what contracts in the real world are all about.)
Funny. Athletes in many
Funny. Athletes in many sports, at least in the USA, do things to get out of contracts early – “holding out” of training camp, preseason matches and even regular-season matches/games; requesting/demanding a trade or transfer, and so on.
A 30 million Euro penalty seems to be excessively punitive to me. I don’t know how much Gee was going to be paid for the last three years of his contract, so I can’t be certain, of course. Gee isn’t Pogacar or Evanepol, so he’s not being paid at that level for sure.
JKerfoot wrote:
The best guesses online seem to be that he was on around $2.5M with up to $1M bonuses each year dependent on results. His salary isn’t really relevant to the claim though (it would only be so if IPT had broken the contract and Gee was suing for lost earnings): IPT will doubtless be claiming for what his potential/predicted performances in coming years would have earned them in increased sponsorship, bonuses from sponsors etc. They may also be asking for punitive damages for bad faith in breaking his contract agreement. It’s pretty doubtful they’d get that amount even if the UCI finds in their favour, €30M sounds more like a bargaining position than a realistic aspiration.
Thanks, Rendel.
Thanks, Rendel.
Sporting contracts have always struck me as a bit strange. After all, there are plenty of examples of athletes who have not turned out to be the wunderkind they were hyped up to be, and no team seems to be held to the contract terms in those cases. However, they’re adamant that, if the athlete fulfills/exceeds their promise, they are bound to the team for the length of the contract.
Seems only fair that a successful athlete should be able to ply their trade under conditions that they think will enhance their potential, their safety or their income.
I guess that’s the trade-off
I guess that’s the trade-off athletes make for getting such big money, leaving aside any moral or political issues with IPT you can see why a team would not be prepared to invest $2.5 million in salary and maybe the same again in training and logistics in a rider every year in order to develop them only to see them decide after a couple of years that they fancy going to a more successful/less stressful team. It is a bit of a deal with the devil but I expect riders could negotiate contracts with more accessible exit clauses but then they would have to accept far lower salaries in return.
There is a strong message
There is a strong message from IPT in all of this for the remaining riders, some (or all?) of whom would surely jump at the opportunity to have any other sponsor’s name on their jerseys.
No doubt, its a message that
No doubt, its a message that says we will crush you.
Acting just like the state,
Acting just like the state, willing to crush anyone.
From the off, it’s been a
From the off, it’s been a Team that’s tainted, it’s probablematic country/area…
Where were his personal
Where were his personal beliefs when he signed up to ride for IPT or did he only develop those later on?
When he joined in 2022,
When he joined in 2022, Israel wasn’t accused of committing genocide…
OnYerBike wrote:
Israel has been accused of genocide many times in the past, from the Nakba up to the 2014 Gaza war, in terms of specific instances, and in more general terms for her behaviour more or less constantly in terms of illegal occupation of territories and killing/displacement of occupants. If someone is going to claim they are acting on principle because of disquiet with Israeli actions there really was more than enough evidence to justify that before the just ended (hopefully) conflict. Whilst one would fully understand and support those refusing to work with or for Israel on principle, Gee seems to have been okay with Israel’s numerous other international-law-breaking activities up until people started vociferously protesting against them, which does make one wonder just how genuine his suddenly-discovered principles are.
TBF though it wasn’t
TBF though it wasn’t “official” – and of course the courts still haven’t ruled on the whole thing. And that’s hotly disputed by Israel and the US (and I can’t see any point in the future where they say “yeah, OK, I guess you could see it that way”).
Not disagreeing that this should have been on people’s list of considerations before eg. applying for a job sponsored by / bearing the name of the place. And of course noting that other people are still willing to ride under the branding of some concerns that don’t have a stellar human rights record either.
Rendel Harris wrote:
The wikipedia page on Israeli war crimes makes for grim reading and stretches back to 1948.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary General recognised the long history in comments following the Oct 7th attacks saying that they “didn’t happen in a vacuum”.
Mr. Gee would have benefitted from reading a little about the history of conflicts in the Middle-East before signing up with Israel Premier Tech.
I would argue the vociferous
I would argue the vociferous protests are a reflection of Israel’s actions being materially worse in the current (/most recent?) conflict than at any other time. The exact numbers are of course disputed, but by most estimates more Palestinians have been killed since 2023 than the combined total between 1948 and 2023.
Sure, if ethics were Gee’s primary consideration then there would have been plenty of occasion to avoid Israel prior to then, but I think it’s a reasonable position to argue that Israel’s current actions are ethically untenable in a way that they weren’t when Gee signed up to the team in 2022.
OnYerBike wrote:
The methods of the IDF seem to be the same as with attacks on Palestinians prior to 2022. Only the scale of civilian casualties is what diffferentiates attacks since 2022 (1,000s vs 100s). If they are ethically untenable now they were also ethically untenable before 2022.
OnYerBike wrote:
He extended in June 2023 before the hamas attack and yes no accusations againt Israel at that time but he still waited quite some time before decising to break contract.