The Israel-Premier Tech team have pulled out of races in Italy as pressure from Pro-Palestine protesters grows and threaten the security of the final races of the 2025 season.
"In light of security concerns, Israel – Premier Tech will no longer be racing Coppa Bernocchi, Tre Valli Varesine or Gran Piemonte next week," the team confirmed to Cyclingnews.
Pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets across Italy after Israeli military boarded the Global Sumud flotilla that was nearing Gaza.
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Hundreds of people signed a petition against Israel-Premier Tech being invited to the Tre Valli Varesine race during a protest in Varese according to local media reports.
Italian trade unions have called a national strike for Friday, with schools and universities also expected to take part in the protests.
The rise in protests has alarmed race organisers, especially in Italy, with six days of racing over the next week starting with the Giro dell'Emilia and Coppa Agostoni this weekend.
In October 2023, a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparked Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza. So far, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 64,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks, with much of Gaza destroyed.
A recent peace agreement proposed by US President Donald Trump has still to be accepted by Hamas.
Israel-Premier Tech are taking part in the Cro Race in Croatia until October 5 and are due to ride Friday’s Sparkassen Münsterland Giro in Germany. They are on the entry list for next Tuesday’s Binche-Chimay-Binche in Belgium but the rest of their end of season calendar remains uncertain.
As a top ProTeam in 2024, Israel-Premier Tech secured automatic invitations to the WorldTour races, including Saturday’s Il Lombardia and the end of season Tour of Guangxi in China. It remains to be seen if they ride those races as well as Paris-Tours on October 12 and the Japan Cup on October 19.
The Giro dell’Emilia organisers opted to remove Israel-Premier Tech from the start of Saturday’s race after pressure from local politicians and concerns about public safety. On Thursday, RCS Sport updated their team list for next Thursday’s Gran Piemonte, and Israel-Premier Tech was not part of the 13 WorldTour and seven ProTeams named.
Cyclingnews understands that the team opted to pull out of Tuesday’s Tre Valli Varesine race after a request from race organisers.
Israel-Premier Tech confirmed to Cyclingnews that they will not take part in Monday’s Coppa Bernocchi in northern Italy, leaving only Il Lombardia on their provisional race calendar.
Only the UCI has the authority to stop automatically invited teams from competing but the federation has so far taken a neutral position on the matter and followed International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy.
Israel-Premier Tech 2025 revised race schedule
- CRO Race (Sept. 30-Oct. 5)
- Sparkassen Münsterland Giro (Oct. 3)
Giro dell'Emilia (Oct. 4)Coppa Bernocchi (Oct. 6)Tre Valli Varesine (Oct. 7)- Binche-Chimay-Binche (Oct. 7)
Gran Piemonte (Oct. 9)- Il Lombardia (Oct. 11)
- Paris-Tours (Oct. 12)
- Tour of Guangxi (Oct. 14-19)
- Japan Cup (Oct. 19)
