2025 Israel–Premier Tech Season

Israel–Premier Tech entered 2025 as an established professional cycling team owned by Canadian-Israeli businessman and philanthropist Sylvan Adams and competing at the highest levels of the sport.[1]

For the UAE Tour—the team's sixth participation in that race—the roster centered on Israeli national champion Oded Kogut as the planned sprint leader, with Alexey Lutsenko and Matthew Riccitello named for the general-classification campaign; Chris Froome, Jan Hirt, Nadav Raisberg and Pier-André Côté rounded out the supporting cast.[2] Head sports director Dror Pekatch set a top-five general-classification finish and a sprint-stage podium for Kogut as the team's stated goals.[2]

The team raced in blue-and-white kits bearing the name "Israel" and a colorful Star of David.[3] During the fourth stage, a small group of protesters booed the team; Kogut responded with a heart gesture and finished fifth the following day.[3]

March brought one of the year's clearest sporting highlights: Israel–Premier Tech won the Tour de Taiwan for the second consecutive year.[3] Australian Brady Gilmore took overall victory in the five-stage race, German teammate Moritz Kretschy finished second, and Israeli rider Itamar Einhorn claimed a stage win.[3] The previous year, Joe Blackmore had won the race for the team.[3]

In June, 25-year-old British rider Jake Stewart delivered what was described at the time as the biggest victory of his career when he won stage five of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a 183-kilometer stage from Saint-Priest to Mâcon. He finished ahead of Axel Laurance and Søren Wærenskjold, while Jonathan Milan placed fifth.[4] It was Stewart's second win of the season.[4]

On the domestic front, Rotem Tene won the 2025 Israeli road championship in Beit Guvrin, attacking teammates Itamar Einhorn and defending champion Oded Kogut on the decisive climb of the final lap.[5] Tene had recently taken his first professional victory at the Tour of Portugal with the team's Academy squad; Einhorn finished second and Kogut third.[5]

Derek Gee delivered one of the team's strongest Grand Tour performances of the year at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, finishing fourth overall.[6] His absence from the Tour de France roster shifted the team's strategic approach: rather than targeting a top general-classification finish, the squad returned to hunting individual stage wins.[6]

The Tour de France was Israel–Premier Tech's sixth consecutive appearance in the race.[6] It ran from Lille on July 5 to Paris on July 27 over approximately 3,330 kilometers and 51,000 meters of climbing.[7] The eight-rider lineup was Pascal Ackermann, Joe Blackmore, Guillaume Boivin, Michael Woods, Alexey Lutsenko, Krists Neilands, Jake Stewart and Matîs Louvel.[6][7] Ackermann and Stewart were identified as sprint options, while Woods was expected to target mountain stages; sports director Pekatch said four or five riders could contend for wins on many stages.[7]

On the race's third stage, Ackermann finished ninth to give the team its first top-10 result of the Tour; Blackmore sat seventh in the general classification after that stage, 41 seconds behind leader Mathieu van der Poel.[8] The team ultimately finished 18th among 23 teams.[9] Despite protests—including a protester entering the course during Stage 11, a police motorcycle escorting Michael Woods amid protests during Stage 13, and a demonstration near Dieulefit during Stage 17—the team completed the race.[9]

At the final stage in Paris, the team welcomed former hostage and longtime cycling enthusiast Ofer Kalderon as its special guest.[10] Kalderon had spent 15 months in Hamas captivity after being abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and was released in January 2025 during the first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal.[10] Adams had promised at an event marking 100 days since the October 7 massacre that they would one day ride side by side at the Tour.[10]

The Vuelta a España combined one of the team's strongest sporting results of the season with repeated disruptions directed at its participation. The roster included Matthew Riccitello, George Bennett, Marco Frigo, Jan Hirt, Pierre-André Côté, Jake Stewart, Ethan Vernon and Nadav Raisberg, the latter making his second consecutive Vuelta appearance.[11]

Riccitello finished fifth overall and secured the Best Young Rider classification, earning the white jersey—the first time an Israel–Premier Tech rider had won that title.[12] He clinched the result with a sixth-place finish on Stage 20.[12] Adams called the Vuelta one of the team's best Grand Tour performances, citing the top-five general-classification result, the jersey win and four stage podiums; he noted that it was the team's second top-five Grand Tour result of the season.[12]

Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted multiple stages throughout the race.[13] During the fifth stage, demonstrators attempted to block Israel–Premier Tech riders, forcing them to slow down in a race decided by differences of seconds.[14] During a team time trial, protesters carrying flags and signs entered the course and delayed some of the team's riders, while others managed to pass; motorcycle security personnel dispersed the group, and the team finished the stage in 19th place.[15]

Stage 11 in Bilbao was stopped three kilometers before its planned finish after protesters attempted to enter the course. The start had already been delayed by 19 minutes after demonstrators stood on the route, and no stage winner was declared, although riders' times were recorded for the general classification.[16] Adams reported that Riccitello had finished with the leading group and did not lose time.[16] During Stage 20, organizers directed riders around another group of protesters before the finish.[17]

The final stage in Madrid could not be completed. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters tore down barriers, clashed with police and forced riders off course; police deployed helicopters, but organizers ultimately abandoned the stage.[12][18] Raisberg recalled riders asking, "Will they hurt us? Ambush us? Any crazy person could finish you off. We were afraid—I won't lie," and said they had considered leaving the race.[12] The team changed its uniforms during the Vuelta, removing its name in an effort to reduce risks to its riders and the peloton.[12][19]

The team's uniform changes drew immediate attention. The group Palestinian and Jewish Unity urged Montreal's mayor to bar the team from the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 14, citing the disruptions at the Vuelta.[19] The campaign failed, and the team was confirmed to compete.[19] Israel–Premier Tech explained that the monogram-branded kit had been issued for the remainder of the Vuelta to prioritize rider and peloton safety, while its official name remained unchanged.[19]

On September 27, organizers of Italy's Giro dell'Emilia withdrew the team's invitation to the October 4 race, citing security concerns following threats of demonstrations that might disrupt the event.[20] The team said it understood the organizers' security challenges but called the cancellation unacceptable and rejected threats of violence that harmed cycling and endangered races.[20] Organizers separately told Agence France-Presse that the exclusion was for "safety reasons."[21] The team later announced that it would remove "Israel" from its name and rebrand for 2026.[22]

In November 2025, co-title sponsor Premier Tech announced that it was ending its sponsorship after nearly four years.[22] The company said the core reason for its involvement had been overshadowed and that continuing had become "untenable."[22] By then, the temporary removal of "Israel" from the team's uniforms during the Vuelta had become permanent, and Adams had announced that he would step aside from active involvement with the team.[22]

Contemporary accounts differed in their political framing of the disruptions. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies described the Stage 5 demonstrators as both pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, while JNS characterized the Vuelta disruptions as anti-Israel and emphasized riders' safety concerns.[14][12] Ynet and Walla reported the incidents primarily as pro-Palestinian protests against the team's participation, documenting route incursions, delays and stage stoppages.[16][15]

The Giro dell'Emilia controversy likewise involved competing attributed positions. Organizers cited safety reasons and threats of disruptive demonstrations; the team said it understood the security challenge but called the withdrawal of its invitation unacceptable and rejected threats of violence against races.[21][20] The available reporting provided limited detail about the organizers' security assessment or decision-making process.[21]