Israeli cycling team drops national identity due to security threats

The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team has decided to remove “Israel” from its official name for the 2026 season due to rising security threats against its riders in European competitions. 

The cycling team confirmed earlier this week that it would rebrand itself in order “to secure its future” due to growing anti-Israel sentiments amid the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“We started this journey to put Israel on the map of world cycling. Now, to stay on that map, we have to take Israel’s name off the jersey,” one team official said.

“In sport, progress often requires sacrifice,” the team announced in its public statement. “This step is necessary to secure the future of our riders and staff,” it added. 

The Israeli Canadian co-owner Sylvan Adams who was previously described as “Israel’s cycling ambassador to the world,” confirmed that he will quit all daily operations due to the difficult international political situation. 

The decision by the team to shed its Israeli identity has not been received well in the Jewish state. Many sports-interested Israelis have viewed the cycling team as a symbol of national pride. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously hailed the team as “representing Israel’s spirit and resilience on the world stage.”

However, last month, the Italian Giro dell’Emilia excluded the Israeli cycling team officially due to security reasons amid widespread anti-Israel protests. 

“There’s too much danger for both the Israel Tech riders and others. The race’s final circuit is run five times, so the possibility of the race being disrupted is very high,” the president of GS Emilia Adriano Amici stated. 

“It’s a decision I regret having to make from a sporting perspective, but I had no other choice for public safety,” he claimed. However, the hosting city Bologna, which is governed by the center-left Democratic Party (PD), called for excluding the Israeli team due to the Jewish state’s alleged “serious crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

During the Vuelta competition in Spain this summer, anti-Israel activists blocked the path for the Israeli cyclists. The Israeli team responded by stressing that it “absolutely condemns the dangerous acts of the protesters on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España, which not only compromised the safety of our riders, race personnel, but the protesters themselves.”

The members of the Israeli cycling team eventually removed the word “Israel” from their jerseys to reduce tensions with anti-Israel activists in Spain. The competition’s final phase in Madrid was eventually canceled due to anti-Israel riots.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for publicly calling on the anti-Israel protesters to take to the streets. 

“A few days ago, the Prime Minister of Spain expressed regret that he didn’t have an atomic bomb ‘to stop Israel.’ Today he encouraged demonstrators to take to the streets. The pro-Palestinian mob heard the incitement messages – and wrecked the ‘La Vuelta’ cycling race. Thus, the sporting event that had always been a source of pride for Spain was canceled,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on 𝕏.

Spain's prime minister has emerged as one of Israel’s harshest critics in the West and has publicly accused the Jewish state of committing “genocide” and causing “famine” in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected the charges and stressed that it seeks to minimize civilian casualties while fighting against Hamas terrorists who deliberately embed themselves in hospitals, schools and use Gazan civilians as human shields.