Israel PT cycling team to miss Lombardy Tour by ‘mutual agreement’: organisers

Organisers of cycling’s prestigious Giro di Lombardia, RCS on Thursday announced that the Israel Premier-Tech team that has been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters will not take part in Saturday’s race.

The Vuelta a Espana grand tour which ended last month was beset by pro-Palestinian demonstrations disrupting several stages, including forcing the final one scheduled to end in Madrid to be abandoned less than halfway through.

Although Israel PT is a privately-owned team, its Israeli-Canadian owner Sylvan Adams has described himself as an unofficial ambassador for the country, which is at war with the armed Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

“The decision was taken by mutual agreement between RCS and the team,” a representative of the Italian race organisers said.

It means that the team will miss the last Monument one-day classic of the season.

There had been calls from several quarters, including the Spanish government, to ban Israeli teams from international sports competitions.

Spain is one of several countries to have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Israel PT had already been excluded from two other Italian races over the last week — the Giro dell’Emilia and the Tre Valli Varesine.

The team announced on Monday that they would change their name to move away from an “Israeli identity”.

Italy was the scene of some of Europe’s biggest pro-Palestinian protests last weekend.

After two years of war in Gaza that has left the territory decimated, US President Donald Trump announced late on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a peace plan.