Suddenly, radically, without return and unexpectedly, Premier Tech, the Canadian fertilizer and agricultural technology company, stops financing the Israeli cycling team, the target of the anger of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters who every day called for its withdrawal from the Tour, accusing it of using cycling to cover up Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal policy in Gaza. The Quebec company announced this yesterday. “The fundamental reason why Premier Tech sponsored the team has been eclipsed to such an extent that it is unsustainable for us to continue as a sponsor,” reads a statement in which Premier Tech, Israel’s sponsor since 2022, suggests that the main reason is the unrest its association with the name Israel creates among its workers and customers. “We have been passionate about our industries, our markets, our customers and our team members since 1923. They are the core of our purpose and the reason for being at Premier Tech. We want each of these players to feel excited and proud to be associated with Premier Tech, its brands, its products and its services.”
The loss of the main sponsor in November jeopardizes the continuity of a team that was promoted to the WorldTour this season. Under the provisional name Cycling Academy, the Israeli team presented the dossier of the ethical, financial and organizational guarantees that the International Cycling Union (UCI) requires from all applicants. And right now the UCI is evaluating the compliance of these applications with regulatory requirements, in collaboration with the external audit firm PwC. According to the international federation’s regulations, teams that fail the audit “still have the opportunity to rectify their situation before the end of the registration process, which would allow them to register for the 2026 season.”
“In accordance with the UCI regulations,” the regulations read, “riders of teams who do not meet the conditions may terminate the contract early, but this right lapses if their team registers later.” To do this, to find financial guarantees, the team has until December 10th, the date on which the registration process will end and the list of 18 admitted teams will be made official. Without sponsors, it is difficult for the Cycling Academy to ensure financial solvency, unless billionaire Adams invests his own capital or Premier Tech pays him the committed sum in exchange for the company’s anagram not appearing anywhere. An agreement of this type was reached by Deutsche Telekom and Rabobank when, in the first decade of the century, they decided to cut sponsorships to teams due to their doping problems. Neither Adams nor the Canadian company have communicated anything about it.
According to various media, the team leaders tried to reassure the riders and prevent a flight to the other teams by informing them that, despite the unforeseen disruption of a breakdown that occurred without warning, they are in agreements with several companies to replace Premier Tech, and that they would have news in the next two weeks.
Once the Vuelta ended, in which thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested against the participation of the Israeli team, disturbing the progress of some stages and preventing Cibeles, Factor Bicycles and the Canadian agricultural company Premier Tech from reaching the final goal. Israel’s major sponsors told Sylvan Adams, the team boss, that they could no longer bear the bad publicity they had from being associated with their name. To calm them down, Adams, an ardent supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu and his policy of massacres and extermination in Gaza, announced in early October that in 2026 the team he founded 10 years ago would no longer be based in Israel, would stop bearing his name and he himself would step aside “to ensure the future of the project” and ensure the continued support of partners and sponsors amid growing political and commercial pressure. “Progress often requires sacrifice and this step is essential to secure the team’s future,” he said. “To do this, it will distance itself from its current Israeli identity.”
For Premier Tech, renouncing its Israeli identity was not enough. “While we note the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season,” its statement read, after multiple conversations with the team and careful consideration of all relevant circumstances, Premier Tech has decided to relinquish being a major co-sponsor of the team effective immediately.
