In a sudden, radical, unreturnable and unexpected way, Premier Tech, a Canadian inoculant, fertilizer and agricultural technology company, stops financing the Israeli cycling team, the target of the wrath of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters who daily demanded its withdrawal from the Tour, accusing it of using the bicycle to cover up Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal policy in Gaza. The announcement was made yesterday by the Quebec company. “The fundamental reason why Premier Tech sponsored the team has been eclipsed to the point that it is unsustainable for us to continue as sponsors,” reads a statement in which Premier Tech, Israel’s sponsor since 2022, suggests that the main reason is the unrest that its association with the Israel name 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 why we are at Premier Tech. We want each of these stakeholders 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 calls into question the continuity of a team that was promoted to the WorldTour this season. Under the provisional name of the Cycling Academy, the Israeli team presented the dossier of ethical, financial and organizational guarantees that the International Cycling Union (UCI) requires from all candidates. And the UCI is currently evaluating the compliance of these applications with regulatory requirements, in collaboration with the external auditing company PwC. According to the international federation’s regulations, teams that do not pass the audit “still have the possibility of regularizing their situation before the end of the registration process, which would allow them to register for the 2026 season”.
“In accordance with UCI regulations,” the rules say, “riders from teams that do not meet the conditions may terminate their contracts early, but this right will expire if their team signs up later.” To achieve this, to find financial guarantees, the team has until December 10th, the date on which the registration process ends and the list of 18 admitted teams will be officially announced. Without a sponsor, it is difficult for the Cycling Academy to guarantee financial solvency, unless millionaire Adams invests his own capital or Premier Tech pays him the committed amount in exchange for the company’s anagram not appearing anywhere. An agreement of this type is the one reached by Deutsche Telekom and Rabobank when, in the first decade of the century, they decided to cut sponsorship of the teams due to their doping problems. Neither Adams nor the Canadian company have communicated anything about this.
According to several media outlets, the team’s directors have been trying to reassure the drivers and avoid a stampede towards other teams, informing them that, despite the unexpected nature of a separation occurring without prior notice, they are in agreements with several companies to replace Premier Tech, and that they would have news in the next two weeks.
The Vuelta is over, in which thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators protested against the participation of the Israeli team, disrupting the development of some stages and preventing it from reaching the final objective of Cibeles, Factor Bicycles and the Canadian agricultural company Premier Tech. Israel’s main sponsors told team boss Sylvan Adams that they could no longer stand the bad publicity they received for 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 have its headquarters in Israel, would no longer bear his name and he himself would step aside “to guarantee the future of the project” and ensure the continued support of partners and sponsors in the midst of growing political and commercial pressures. “Progress often requires sacrifices and this step is essential to secure the team’s future,” he said. “To do so, it will move away from its current Israeli identity.”
Renouncing its Israeli identity was not enough for Premier Tech. “While we take note of the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season,” it says in its statement, after multiple conversations with the team and a careful assessment of all relevant circumstances, Premier Tech has decided to step down from being the team’s primary co-sponsor effective immediately.
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