The president of the world cycling governing body, the UCI, has declared that it will continue to welcome Israeli athletes at its competitions despite mounting calls for boycotts.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, UCI president David Lappartient, who was re-elected on Thursday, dismissed demands to exclude Israel-Premier Tech.
“The IOC has confirmed our position. We are not a tool for sanctions; we are a tool in the service of an ideal of bringing people together with the unifying power of sport, with the aim of promoting peace. And peace does not come through exclusion,” said Lappartient, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.
“So yes, Israeli athletes are welcome, just as Palestinian athletes are welcome when we host them at our competitions, just like all athletes from around the world. That is truly the power of the Olympic movement.”
A U.N. Commission of Inquiry said in a report earlier this week that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, and called for Israel’s suspension from international football, according to Reuters. However, Lappartient said the UCI will not go down that path.
“It is perfectly normal for them to be here, because we believe – and I am speaking on behalf of the UCI, but I could almost say that there are also Olympic values – that sport is not a tool for punishment,” he told reporters.
“Look at the Olympic Games in Paris: all countries were present, and although Russian athletes competed under a neutral flag, they were still there,” he added. “We believe that no athlete should be deprived of the opportunity to participate in a competition.
“The Russian Olympic Committee is suspended because it has incorporated the four oblasts that belong to Ukraine into its statutes and because Russia attacked Ukraine during the Olympic truce that was unanimously voted for by the United Nations.”
While there are no Israeli riders competing in today’s elite women’s road race at the World Championships, Israel will be represented by Nadav Raisberg in tomorrow’s men’s event.
Raisberg rides for Israel-Premier Tech and Lappartient’s comments follow the news that the founder and CEO of bike brand Factor has doubts about the Israeli-branded team continuing to use its bikes next season.
“I’ve already told the team: Without a name change, without a flag change, we won’t continue. It’s not a matter of right or wrong anymore,” Rob Gitelis told cyclingnews.
“It’s no longer a personal thing of I support this, or I support that. There’s just a certain level of controversy we just can’t have surrounding the brand.”
Barcelona City Council has also confirmed that it aims to host next year’s Tour start without a team bearing Israel’s name or flag.
“We want the teams competing under the Israeli flag, in the same way as has happened with Russia, to stop competing under this flag,” sports councillor David Escudé said.
The UCI president has stood firm, “I know that the Spanish government wanted me to withdraw [the team from the Vuelta], but on what legal basis?” he said.
“If we start by excluding one team, next year it will be another, on another issue.”
The UCI criticises the Spanish government’s support of the protests against Israel-Premier Tech’s involvement in the Vuelta.
“We regret the fact that the Spanish Prime Minister and his government have supported actions that could hinder the smooth running of a sporting competition and, in some cases, expressed their admiration for the demonstrators,” the UCI said.
“This position is contradictory to the Olympic values of unity, mutual respect, and peace. It also calls into question Spain’s ability to host major international sporting events, ensuring that they take place in safe conditions and in accordance with the principles of the Olympic Charter.”
Ex-UCI president Brian Cookson has suggested that the UCI should introduce a rule banning professional teams from featuring nation states in their names, exclusively telling road.cc it would represent a “quick, partial, and undoubtedly imperfect way of moving things forward”.
Israel-Premier Tech is not officially state-owned, but it has received some funding from Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. It is owned by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Adams, who has described the team as “ambassadors” for Israel and a means of promoting a “more realistic vision” of modern Israel.
The Israel-Premier Tech team is reviewing its branding for next year as sponsors have pressured for a name change.
“We are sensitive and attentive to the situation on the international scene.” Premier Tech said in a statement this week. road.cc also understands that some of the team’s other sponsors have also held talks over their partnerships.
“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.”
40 thoughts on ““If we start excluding one team, next year it will be another, on another issue”: UCI president defends Israel-Premier Tech as team faces pressure from sponsors to change name”
It’d be nice to get genocidal
It’d be nice to get genocidal regimes out of cycling, though, M. Lappartient, but when you chose to allow Rwanda to host the worlds, you don’t have a principled leg to stand on.
I know the regime is
I know the regime is authoritarian and it’s attitudes to both human rights and freedom of speech could very much be improved, but as I understand it he helped end the genocide and has brought the sides back and away from the very deep seated nastiness. The worlds gave Rwanda an opportunity to showcase itself to the rest of us, and I’m hoping it makes further improvements.
There are very few countries around the world who do not have some very dark bits in their history, and I am very much including us in that.
Finally. A balanced
Finally. A balanced thoughtful comment on this page. Nuanced even.
The rest of you paying attention?
No.
No.
“Israeli athletes are welcome
“Israeli athletes are welcome, just as Palestinian athletes are welcome”.
Noone is pressing to ban athletes, just state /state adjacent sponsored teams.
Israel are committing genocide – giving them the same welcome as Palestinians is such a false equivalence.
Even UEFA are considering a ban on Israel (amd we know how corrupt they are).
It’s fascinating. Every
It’s fascinating. Every article that references the topic of IPT and cycling on this site… and you cant help but comment. Make the same comment every time. Same inflexible, one sided view. Same bigotry. Wondering – are you a real person? Perhaps an online operative for Hamas or some far left group? Are you Javier Bardem’s lacky? Or are you just an AI bot trying to sow discord and flagrant hypocrisy and antisemitism.
If you ARE a real person, then I feel bad for you. While even many Israelis and Jews worldwide have expressed disagreement and dismay with the current Israeli administration, the issues at hand do have nuance and you clealry have made no attempt to understand their immense complexity. And it’s entirely transparent that bigotry drives your utter fixation on one villain and one alone. But whatever – I guess it’s easier to just regurgitate stuff you read on Tiktok and shout them from behind an anonymous onlinemoniker… and on a cycling website, no less… where you can pretend you’re an ‘activist’ when really, no one cares or is paying any attention.
So you accept the IDF has
So you accept the IDF has killed many tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children, because surely you’re not a bigot and one-sided.
And you can accept that Israel holds 9000+ Palestinians prisoner, men, women and children, many for years without trial?
You should also then accept that the history of these two states did not begin on the cataclismic security failure of October 7th that allowed the heinous HAMAS fighters to commit that atrocity.
It’s wrong to punish the athletes of Israel, but the world should not accept the ham-handed attempts by Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc. to buy our love.
That’s what real nuance looks like.
Yes, but you really need to
Yes, but you really need to say this 3x at suspiciously different times to really make your point.
I don’t think you meant this
I don’t think you meant this as reply to me, true?
Incredibly true, I agreed
Incredibly true, I agreed with your comment, liked it after reading.
I was just using my reply to you to really reply to the “person” who you had replied to. I didn’t wish to sully myself actually conversing with it.
Cheers for taking one for the team.
I am a person, thanks.
I am a person, thanks.
And good to know your self righteousness puts you above active debate on complex issues. Wouldn’t want you to be “sullied”.
Also good to know there is a “team” of you making the world a better place via the immensely popular road.cc comment section. Do you have a Tiktok page I can subscribe to?
How many of IPT are Israeli ?
How many of IPT are Israeli ?
No. I think it’s all bad.
No. I think it’s all bad. Innocent people should never die, obviously. It’s a sad reality of war. Always has been. And sadly, always will be.
What I find bigoted and one sided is how blindly ‘popular’ it is today for folks to cry for Palestinian innocents in Gaza now… and conveniently and resolutely point their finger squarely at Israel. These are the same people who were stone silent (and probably not even bothered or even aware) as tens of thousands (more?) of innocents have been imprisoned, disappeared, died in Sudan, in Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc etc over the years and still are to this day. Often times, simply because of who they are, what sect they belong to and so forth. With no provocation whatsoever. And you certainly didnt (and still don’t) see idiot movie stars or leftist Spanish leaders protesting any of those things… Or see web-morons making comments on cycling websites about any of that either now, do you? Wonder why…. hmmmm…..
Meanwhile, in this situation, Hamas – an Iran proxy that has always called for the destruction of the Jewish State – DID start a viscious war with Israel and still holds hostages and refuses to give them back, using them and their own people as pawns while they hide like cowards and war rages above ground. Pathetic. And tragic… To be clear, I certainly don’t condone dropping bombs on city blocks to kill a couple of Hamas operatives and killing scores of innocent people in the process; how could anyone with a conscience…
But as ugly and questionable as that is, the truth still remains that if Hamas gave the hostages back and crawled out of their holes, the war would end. And as long as Hamas refuses to do so, they are a threat to Israeli security. And so because of that Israel is stuck between a rock and hard place, just as innocent Palestainians unfortunately are. It’s terrible. But doesn’t make it any less true.
Don’t like hearing that? Or want to accept those uncomfortable truths about how war works? Then don’t take my word for it. Read the speech given at the UN this week by the Indonesian President – by far the largest Muslim-majority country in the world with ZERO diplomatic history or ties to Israel, one that has been in lock-step with the Palestinian cause for years and often portrays itself as Islam’s moral voice for justice across the globe. A speech in which he basically said that peace and stability in the region requires a guarantee of Israel’s security. Pretty stunning admission of the reality – from a devout and powerful Muslim leader, on the world’s biggest stage no less – that all this self-righteous and one sided finger pointing at Israel is pointless and misguided.
Sounds bigoted and one-sided
Sounds bigoted and one-sided to me.
All those words to tow the Zionist line.
Sad.
Ha. Am I the bigot towing the
Ha. Am I the bigot towing the “Zionist” line? Or the Muslim Indonesian president who understands reality and believes the same?
You’ve just blown your cover.
bot wrote:
Source? In my experience it’s the people who decry the genocide of Palestinians who are the most vocal against human rights abuses elsewhere. I’ve never seen an Israel apologist do the same as that would remove their fig leaf.
Btw, “These are the same
Btw, “These are the same people who … yaddayaddayadda” is a lyrical stanza I’m getting exhausted hearing. You’re not proving the hypocrisy that you wish were there, and you and your tribe are no symbols of virtue anyway. Who are you referring to? All the millions of Palestine supporters? That doesn’t sound too rational.
And if you were oh-so-concerned about hostages, you’d know that Israel has held over 9000 Palestinians, many for years and without trial, men, women and children. But you don’t get that from your infotainment sources.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Updated: 03 March 2025
At the end of December 2024, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was holding 9,619 Palestinians in detention or in prison on what it defined “security” grounds, including 2,216 from the Gaza Strip. At that time, the IPS was also holding 1,705 Palestinians, 3 of them from the Gaza Strip, for being in Israel illegally.
At the end of 2020, the IPS adopted a new policy and stopped providing B’Tselem with the requested figures. Instead, it has since published some data on the IPS website every three months. The first year this occurred (July 2020 through September 2021), the figures published were partial and therefore are not included here.
In addition, at times, some Palestinians are briefly held in military facilities. The figures from the military are received with a significant time delay and offer no details regarding inmates’ legal standing.
more…
– B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Ok. So Before Oct 7,
Ok. So Before Oct 7, thousands of Gazans routinely crossed into Israel daily and back to work without incident. Life was fairly calm. So to suggest that Israel had been routinely imprisoning people ad hoc is utter nonsense. And newsflash, Hamas is a globally designated terrorist organization largely based in Gaza. Do you know how many of those numbers you cited are in Hamas or equivalent? You have no idea. And you’re also claiming that includes “women and children”…. really. Ok. Who’s guilty of conflating and fabricating to satisfy what your “tribe” (not sure what you meant by that but I can guess) wants to see. It isn’t me.
MC73 wrote:
Untrue. Israel killed at least 220 Palestinians in 2022. In 2019 Israel killed at least 223 Palestinians and wounded at least 9204 others in Gaza for the crime of _peacefully protesting_ the Israeli denial of _their own land_ within Gaza with their 400 metre “security buffer” (inside Gaza!).
— MC73
Israel holds _thousands_ of Palestinians as hostages in its torture camps, where they are routinely tortured (stress positions, etc.), starved, beaten, and abused (sexually, and denied regular access to washing facilities and the Israelis also allow scabies to thrive as an additional torture). Israel holds _hundreds_ of children hostage in the same way.
Israel has been doing this for _decades_, long before October 7th.
MC73 wrote:
It really wasn’t. The military deliberately imposed ridiculous roundabout routes for any Gazan who wanted to work in Israel and installed numerous checkpoints to make it as awkward as possible for them; many people had to leave for work four or five hours before their starting time to ensure they arrived punctually even when they lived just 15 miles away from their workplace. Additionally, there have been numerous incidents where innocent people travelling for work or education have been shot at Israeli checkpoints as suspected terrorists; even when it has been conclusively proved that they were not in any way engaged in terror activity no Israeli soldiers or commanders are charged or any compensation paid to dependents.
MC73 wrote:
It really wouldn’t, you know. Israel would continue to invade Gaza and would move on to attacking cities and refugee camps in the West Bank (over 800 people killed in these areas since the Gaza war began) and move on to the Golan heights etc. Two reasons for this: firstly, the extreme religious right which believes that Israel must take all the land of Palestine and gather all Jews home to bring about the fulfillment of the Messianic age are extremely powerful in Israel, and secondly Netanyahu, like the Mango Mussolini, can only stave off very well-founded charges of bribery and corruption by remaining in power and his best chance of doing that is to remain at war. He might technically declare an end to the Gaza war if Hamas surrendered, but he would simply shift his forces into other theatres and continue to try to drive all Palestinians out of Palestine.
Unlike most of the rest of
Unlike most of the rest of you, this actually an interesting question. Would Netanyahu and his right wing coalition carry on, trying to get remove all Palestinians out of the region if the war “ended”?
The extreme right (just like the left, including some of the folk on posting on this site) are a problem EVERYWHERE. Does Netanyahu have ulterior motives ? Certainly. If the war ended, would he continue on to “drive all Palestinians out”? I understand the sentiment but it’s entirely impossible. Partly because no other Arab neighbor wants them (as an example, and to state the obvious, Egypt does have a border with Gaza and notice how unhelpful they’ve been to the plight of their neighbors through all this)… nor would the international community (including the US and Germany) ever support that.
‘We’re Rolling Out Nakba 2023
‘We’re Rolling Out Nakba 2023,’ Israeli Minister Says on Northern Gaza Strip Evacuation
Israeli security cabinet member and Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter (Likud) was asked in a news interview on Saturday whether the images of northern Gaza Strip residents evacuating south on the IDF’s orders are comparable to images of the Nakba. He replied: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. From an operational point of view, there is no way to wage a war – as the IDF seeks to do in Gaza – with masses between the tanks and the soldiers.”
– Haaretz, 11-12-2023
MC73 wrote:
Prior to the current war one would’ve thought that Israel would not be permitted to raze Gaza to the ground and invade it with the declared intention of driving every Palestinian in the territory into evacuation zones, and yet here we are. Israel is currently undertaking her largest program of building illegal settlements in the West Bank in decades; how long before Netanyahu (who, as noted, has a crucial interest in keeping Israel permanently at war) and the religious right (who are itching to occupy more of the West Bank) decide that they must move troops in to defend their new illegal settlements, something that would clearly involve displacing hundreds of thousands if not millions of Palestinians? Israel really won’t care where the refugees go, they will just continue to squeeze them into a smaller and smaller space until they spill over the border, whether the surrounding nations are willing to take them or not.
MC73 wrote:
Ah yes, the “But Egypt has a border with Gaza!” canard.
Either you are ignorant, or you are a deliberate hasbarist, but the Egyptian border with Gaza is under *Israeli* security control, and has been de jure so by *treaty* since 1979 (and was de facto prior to that by direct occupation). Israeli troops were all along that border until 2005. And Egypt is *required* to co-operate with Israel on securing that border to Israeli desires by the same 1978 treaty (the Egypt-Israel “Camp David Accords” peace treaty). They withdrew troops from along the border in 2005, but kept a security corridor along with regular watch towers and sensor equipment, and the ability to patrol. They demolished buildings within Gaza to hundreds of metres. Further, Egypt is not allowed to have _any_ troops, bar a minimal and very lightly armed force for the border, anywhere on the Sinai peninsula.
The Gaza border – like every other side of Gaza – is 100% controlled by Israel.
Not that other people taking
Not that other people taking them is the problem of course *, but when push comes to shove few counties are up for mass migration from their neighbours – especially when that population has been extensively traumatised (and yes – will come with its own gangs and fighting and terrorist groups). And often where there have been strained relations between groups in the past.
The Rohingya come to mind, Vietnamese boat people, and even (in some ways) fleeing European Jews (both in WW2 and many times before, from pogroms and other violence going back hundreds of years).
Exceptions are notable, like Syrians in Jordan ( > 10% of the existing population!) and Poles taking in Ukranians.
* Why should they move? But of course some might disagree eg. those who have heard otherwise from god / vexed UK bureaucrats in the early half of the 20th Century / US folks feeling guilty/rooting for other colonists …
chrisonabike wrote:
Many Palestinians have fled though. Which brings us to the other flaw with the “Ah, but no one wants to take the Palestinians” rubbish….
Many Palestinians DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE! Precisely cause leaving is exactly what Israel is trying to starve, bomb, abuse, torture, oppress, steal them into. Israel’s *very explicit* intent is to make Palestinians leave, by making life miserable for them – and killing those who refuse to leave. Israeli politicians, to cabinet level, have said this _again and again_.
Palestinians DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE. The simple act of staying and living in Palestine is their highest form of _resistance_ – and it infuriates the colonial-terrorists!
And the hasbarists come here with their nonsense… trying to deny the obvious.
I see you avoiding in
I see you avoided engaging with the article or my thoughts on it.
I “bash” states who are genocidal and bring cycling into disrepute. Worse, they use cycling to put a shine on their bloody image.
You and your like are still going with the nuance angle….you are in a v small, sectarian minority. Adams (IPT owner) has openly encouraged the terrorist idf to finish the job in Gaza. Hamas are not the innocent citizens of Gaza. There are not two sides to this “war”, there can be no place for genocidal regimes in cycling.
Not avoiding anything. I was
Not avoiding anything. I was actually busy.
Interesting point you make – have you really bashed any other country on this site ? Seems like most of your vitriol is directly squarely at IPT. Just like all the supposed pro Palestinian protestors who cheer (or take a bathroom break) as the UAE team rolls by….
As for the rest, TBH I have no idea what any your comment means. What “very small sectarian minority” have you decided I’m in because I don’t agree with you? Please, educate me. (I’m looking forward to this one)…. The IDF is “terrorist”? Nope. It’s military. (Under international law, terrorists by definition are non-state actors). “Hamas are not the innocent citizens of Gaza”… not sure what that gibberish means but I suppose I agree… ?!
Again, you lot seem unable or unwilling to accept unpopular truths that even Muslims in power (Subianto) have the courage to admit on the world stage. Which begs the question, who’s actually the one in the small “sectarian minority “?
It’s fascinating. Every
It’s fascinating. Every article that references the topic of IPT and cycling on this site… and you cant help but comment. Make the same comment every time. Same inflexible, one sided view. Same bigotry. Wondering – are you a real person? Perhaps an online operative for Hamas or some far left group? Are you Javier Bardem’s lacky? Or are you just an AI bot trying to sow discord and flagrant hypocrisy and antisemitism.
If you ARE a real person, then I feel bad for you. While even many Israelis and Jews worldwide have expressed disagreement and dismay with the current Israeli administration, the issues at hand do have nuance and you clealry have made no attempt to understand their immense complexity. And it’s entirely transparent that bigotry drives your utter fixation on one villain and one alone. But whatever – I guess it’s easier to just regurgitate stuff you read on Tiktok and shout them from behind an anonymous onlinemoniker… and on a cycling website, no less… where you can pretend you’re an ‘activist’ when really, no one cares or is paying any attention.
It’s fascinating. Every
It’s fascinating. Every article that references the topic of IPT and cycling on this site… and you cant help but comment. Make the same comment every time. Same inflexible, one sided view. Same bigotry. Wondering – are you a real person? Perhaps an online operative for Hamas or some far left group? Are you Javier Bardem’s lacky? Or are you just an AI bot trying to sow discord and flagrant hypocrisy and antisemitism.
If you ARE a real person, then I feel bad for you. While even many Israelis and Jews worldwide have expressed disagreement and dismay with the current Israeli administration, the issues at hand do have nuance and you clealry have made no attempt to understand their immense complexity. And it’s entirely transparent that bigotry drives your utter fixation on one villain and one alone. But whatever – I guess it’s easier to just regurgitate stuff you read on Tiktok and shout them from behind an anonymous onlinemoniker… and on a cycling website, no less… where you can pretend you’re an ‘activist’ when really, no one cares or is paying any attention.
yes you do, Russians are
yes you do, Russians are banned
Unfortunately, and not
Unfortunately, and not cycling yet, but I heard on the radio that the IPC is about to allow both Russian and Belarussians to compete under their own flag at an upcoming Paralympic games. Or something like that.
“If we start excluding one
“If we start excluding one team, next year it will be another, on another issue”:
– UCI president defends their income stream
Any dollar is good dollar to the UCI.
“The IOC has confirmed our
“The IOC has confirmed our position. We are not a tool for sanctions; we are a tool in the service of an ideal of bringing people together with the unifying power of sport, with the aim of promoting peace.”
Wikipedia: South Africa did not compete at Olympic Games from 1964 to 1988, as a part of the sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era. The South African National Olympic Committee (NOC) was expelled from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1970.
If it was good enough for apartheid, surely it’s good enough for genocide?
At this very same UCI WC
At this very same UCI WC there were athletes riding around in blanc, “neutral colours” kit, cause their country is banned.
Gazprom…..
Gazprom…..
Katyusha.
Katyusha.
Mornington Crescent!
Mornington Crescent!
Lapartient can stand there
Lapartient can stand there and say they won’t sanction Israel cause…
“we are a tool in the service of an ideal of bringing people together with the unifying power of sport, with the aim of promoting peace. And peace does not come through exclusion”
While at the same time he’s got the Russian athletes riding around in blanc kit cause the Russian federation (and Russian teams) is banned.