Premier Tech has become the latest company to call for the word ‘Israel’ to be dropped from the name and identity of the team it co-sponsors.
Premier Tech’s statement comes days after the team’s bike supplier Factor made a similar statement arguing that bike sponsorship was “too controversial” with the team in light of widespread protests.
Factor CEO Rob Gitellis also appeared willing to cancel the verbal agreement made in the summer that the company would continue to support the team into next season.
road.cc also understands that other sponsors have been in touch with the team in recent weeks to discuss the terms of their partnership agreements for next season. On Thursday, saddle sponsor Selle Italia told us it is “in dialogue” with the team, the content or mood of the talks was not disclosed, just that the brand’s “commitment has always been to cycling and to the values it represents: passion, performance, and inclusivity”.
In a statement first reported by Radio Canada, Premier Tech said: “We are sensitive and attentive to the situation on the international scene.
“Premier Tech has always placed the development of the sport and Quebec and Canadian cyclists at the heart of its involvement.
“The current situation regarding the name of the team is no longer sustainable to achieve our goal, which is the very reason for our involvement in cycling.
“Our expectation is that the team will evolve towards a new name that excludes the term Israel, and that it will adopt a new identity and brand image.”
Israel-Premier Tech are owned by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams who has described the team as “ambassadors for Israel”. The team has also received a small amount of funding from Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.
Adams attended the disrupted Vuelta earlier this month and stated that the team would “never surrender to the terrorists”. They were supported in this position by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, the public statements made by several sponsors and partners suggest this stance may be softening. In a statement to road.cc, Israel-Premier Tech said “The team is currently in the planning phase for 2026 team branding and will communicate any potential changes in due course.”
Premier Tech is a Canadian agricultural company who sponsored the team then known as Israel-Start Up Nation in 2022, after a tempestuous season sponsoring Astana. Since coming on board, the team have adopted a more Canadian identity with former Tour de France stage winner Steve Bauer joining the backroom staff, and the team winning Tour stages with Canadians Michael Woods and Hugo Houle.
There are currently six Canadian riders on the team’s roster including national champion Derek Gee whose contract is in dispute after “certain issues simply made continuation at the team untenable”. The company also sponsors Continental and development teams in France and Quebec.
Premier Tech’s statement is the latest fall-out from the heavy protests that disrupted the Vuelta a España causing stages to be shortened, neutralised and cancelled, as well as riders to crash. Protests were aimed towards the team’s participation in light of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Last week the UN Human Rights Council’s independent commission concluded that Israel’s actions constituted a genocide, a claim Israel denies.
Israel-Premier Tech have since used monogrammed kit in races which doesn’t contain the word ‘Israel’, bringing the riders in line with team vehicles and staff clothing that removed all reference to Israel last year.
The President of the French cycling federation, responsible for organising the European championships in two weeks time, has also confirmed that there will be no Israeli entries in the time trial events, where riders are most vulnerable to being individually targeted. The Israeli team was briefly halted during their team time trial at the Vuelta, with the individual TT also shortened to better ensure rider safety. Israeli athletes will still be competing in the road races.
“The time trial is still really complicated to secure,” Michel Callot told L’Equipe. “It’s a relief for me, as an organiser, that we don’t have any Israeli entries in the time trials, which was the biggest concern.”
On Thursday, one of Israel-Premier Tech’s other sponsors, saddle manufacturer Selle Italia, told us it had held discussions with the team too, although the brand’s statement was fairly vague as to the content of said talks and its own viewpoint.
Riccardo Bigolin, Selle Italia Vice-President, said: “Selle Italia is aware of the discussions concerning the Israel–Premier Tech team. Our commitment has always been to cycling and to the values it represents: passion, performance, and inclusivity. We are in dialogue with the team to follow the evolution of this matter.”
14 thoughts on ““The name of the team is no longer sustainable”: Israel-Premier Tech’s title sponsor joins calls for team to drop ‘Israel’ from identity and brand image”
IPT are going to be the
IPT are going to be the subject of controversy and protests so long as either of these things remains true:
a) They are registered as a team in Israel
b) They are run and/or funded by an Israeli genocide supporter.
It appears that the Israel
I have removed this comment.
RhysW wrote:
It really isn’t. Israel is engaged in a course of action, it amounts to genocide as determined by the bit of the UN responsible for making exactly that sort of determination, and the team owner supports it. I don’t imagine that even he would argue that he doesn’t support the Israeli government, since that’s a large part of what he spends his money doing in general and through this team in particular. I’m not sure which part of this you think is even arguable, much less actually untrue.
The_Ewan wrote:
On the other side of the argument of course the Israeli government is arguing precisely that the “genocide” part is false. (And indeed if one looks at what has happened previously this seems just the same writ very large – and few in the mainstream and almost none in governments reached for that label back then…)
In Israeli society there are some also declaring this is a genocide. Both those critical of it and those who would like it speeded up and expanded…
chrisonabike wrote:
In more or less the words of Mandy Rice-Davies, “Well they would, wouldn’t they?”
There aren’t two sides to the
There aren’t two sides to the UN ruling. Israel and its leaders and the IDF are committing genocide.
RhysW wrote:
Are you new to the internet?
Yes, Hi …
Yes, Hi …
RhysW wrote:
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ktache wrote:
*Don’t mention the* …
It is obviously a genocide.
It is obviously a genocide. If what is happening in Gaza is not a genocide, nothing ever can be.
You have bombed *every* hospital in Gaza. Many are just flattened now. Most are inoperable. Only a few are still running. You have bombed every university, and nearly all the schools. You have destroyed the majority of residences in Gaza, and damaged almost all of them. You have herded the population of an already over-crowded refugee camp into a *tiny strip* of land. You deny the entry of all but a tiny trickle of food and water – utterly insufficient for the people there – as well as medical supplies. You are currently drone-bombing a peaceful aid flotilla, which is threatening to deliver a symbolic amount of (checks notes) baby formula, medical supplies, food and such to Gaza.
The devastation in Gaza is visible from the hills of Israel. It is visible from the satellite photos. You can not deny it.
There are likely hundreds of thousands dead. Israel’s own military estimates (inadvertanly leaked by an academic, but repeated since by high-level political figures) are that there are 1.7M to 1.75M people remaining in Gaza – and those figures are from *earlier this year*. Where are the other 300k to 500k? The true figures may be greater still.
It’s a genocide. A holocaust. And it will indelibly stain the colonial-terrorist entity for centuries to come.
Isn’t this a bit like Trek
Isn’t this a bit like Trek saying they don’t like Lidl’s name being on the team because of their business practices? It’s literally a business relationship – like it or not, “Israel” is part of the relationship, so all Premier Tech can do is withdraw. They can’t force out their partner, unless they buy them out.
Read the article – Israel’s
Read the article – Israel’s tourism dept paid a small amount of sponsorship in the past but no longer do. If was Premir-Tech I’d be pretty annoyed that they’re getting 2nd billing to a “sponsor” who doesn’t pay anything, is getting the team (and therefore the business) adverse publicity, and they’re now getting referred to as “Team IPT”. I can only assume Premier Tech are bound to a contract, otherwise they would’ve left by now.