ROME: Israel-Premier Tech have been excluded from the Giro dell’Emilia cycling race on October 4 in Italy for safety reasons, the organizers told AFP on Saturday.
Adriano Amici, president of GS Emilia which organizes the one-day race, said the team “will unfortunately not be present at our race. We had to make this decision for reasons of public security.”
“There’s too much danger for both the Israel Tech riders and others. The race’s final circuit is run five times so the possibility of the race being disrupted is very high.
“It’s a decision I regret having to make from a sporting perspective, but I had no other choice for public safety.”
The Giro dell’Emilia, whose 2024 edition was won by cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar, will cover 199 kilometers from Mirandola to Bologna in northern Italy.
It is a ProSeries event, road cycling’s second tier after the World Tour, and is a dress rehearsal for Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the year which takes place the following weekend.
The race concludes with a climb to the Madonna di San Luca sanctuary, not far from the historic center of Bologna which has a large student population and a long history of left-wing politics.
This week Bologna’s local government, controlled by the center-left Democratic Party (PD) called for Israel-Premier Tech’s exclusion, citing “the Israeli government as guilty of serious crimes against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”
Roberta Li Calzi, the city’s sports councillor, welcomed the decision to exclude the team.
“Given what is happening in Gaza it would have been hypocritical to consider the presence of a team linked to this (Israeli) government as insignificant,” she said in a statement.
Four stages of this year’s Vuelta, including the finale in Madrid, had to be cut short due to mass protests against Israel’s continued offensive in Gaza and the participation in the event of the team, owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams.
The Premier Tech group which co-sponsors the team and is the manufacturer that supplies the riders with their bikes, wants the team to remove the world “Israel” from the name.
The war in Gaza broke out after Palestinian militants led by Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has since killed at least 65,926 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, figures the United Nations deems reliable.
Israel PT excluded from Giro dell’Emilia cycling race for ‘security reasons’: organizers
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Israel PT excluded from Giro dell’Emilia cycling race for ‘security reasons’: organizers
- Adriano Amici, president of GS Emilia which organizes the one-day race, said the team “will unfortunately not be present at our race“
- “There’s too much danger for both the Israel Tech riders and others”
Desert Vipers hold nerve to edge Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20 thriller
- Key contributions from Shimron Hetmyer and Khuzaima Tanveer prove decisive as the Vipers weather tense finish to overhaul target of 171
- Knight Riders start well, reaching 87 in 10 overs, but momentum shifts in second half of their inning as the Vipers’ spinners struck back
SHARJAH: Desert Vipers made it two wins out of two in the DP World International League T20, as they held their nerve to secure a dramatic two-wicket victory over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Shimron Hetmyer’s counterattacking 48 off 25 balls, and a late-order cameo from Khuzaima Tanveer, who hit 31 off just 12 deliveries, proved decisive as the Vipers weathered a tense finish to overhaul a target of 171.
Sent in to bat, the Knight Riders made a confident start through Phil Salt and Alex Hales, with the latter anchoring the inning to top-score with 53 off 37 balls.
Despite reaching 87 in 10 overs, however, the momentum shifted in the second half of the inning as the Vipers’ spinners began to strike regularly. Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad led the middle-overs fightback, dismissing Hales and triggering a collapse as the Knight Riders lost five wickets.
Andre Russell’s unbeaten 36, and useful contributions from Alishan Sharafu and Unmukt Chand, at least helped Abu Dhabi reach a competitive total, but they were unable to fully capitalize on the side’s strong opening.
The Vipers began explosively in reply, smashing a tournament-record 19 runs from the first over. However, early wickets then left them wobbling on 44/3. Sam Curran and Dan Lawrence rebuilt the attack before the latter combined with Hetmyer for a crucial 68-run stand that swung the contest back in the their favor.
Late strikes from Ajay Kumar and Russell, the latter dismissing Hetmyer for his 500th T20 wicket, set up a tense finish, but Tanveer delivered under pressure. Needing eight runs off the final over, he sealed victory with a six and a boundary.
“It was, in many ways, a fortunate escape but an outstanding result for us,” said Curran, the Vipers’ stand-in captain.
“ADKR possess a very powerful batting lineup, and I believe our bowlers performed exceptionally well throughout the innings. The dismissals of Hetmyer and Dan introduced an unexpected twist but the team showed commendable composure in the crucial moments.”
Knight Riders’ stand-in skipper Sunil Narine felt his side had been lacking with the bat: “We were 15-20 runs short. We began well in the powerplay and that phase was crucial for us.
“The conditions eventually worked in their favor and the dew made it challenging for our spinners. But at the end of the day that’s part of the game.”
The result leaves the Vipers well placed at this early stage of the tournament, while the Knight Riders were left to reflect on missed opportunities after such a strong start.
