Canadian company Premier Tech ends association with Israel-based cycling team
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RIVIÈRE-DU-LOUP – Canadian company Premier Tech is ending its association with an Israel-based cycling team that has been the target of several recent protests.
The company said in a statement Friday that it will end its co-title sponsorship of the team formerly known as Israel-Premier Tech effective immediately.
The development comes a month after the team announced a plan to rebrand after a tumultuous 2025 season.
“Although we took notice of the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season, the core reason for Premier Tech to sponsor the team has been overshadowed to a point where it has become untenable for us to continue as a sponsor,” the company said in its statement.
Premier Tech thanked the team’s riders and staff for “four unforgettable seasons.”
The team is co-owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, who previously announced plans to step back from his day-to-day involvement with the team.
Riders had been targeted by pro-Palestinian protests this season, leading to the upheaval of the team’s competition schedule.
Multiple stages of the Spanish Vuelta faced protests, disrupting the Grand Tour event. Spain’s government estimated that more than 100,000 people were on the streets in Madrid during the final stage this month when protesters criticized the presence of Israel-Premier Tech.
The Vuelta protests prompted the team to change its riders’ uniforms at the race in favour of “team monogram-branded kit.”
Israel-Premier Tech then withdrew from three upcoming one-day races in Italy due to security concerns. Its invitation to take part in last October’s Giro dell’Emilia was withdrawn by organizers.
The team also faced controversy in Canada. A Montreal-based human rights group asked former mayor Valérie Plante to bar the team from competing in September’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal dure to Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza.
Palestinian and Jewish Unity, or PAJU, urged the City of Montreal to exclude the squad, whose riders were described by Adams as ambassadors for Israel. The team, which has referred to itself as simply a “professional cycling team” in response to protests, did take part in the race.
The team has extensive Canadian ties other than Adams.
Israel-Premier Tech is home to Canadian riders Michael Woods, Hugo Houle, Guillaume Boivin, Riley Pickrell and Pier-André Côté. Steve Bauer, the first Canadian to win a stage at the Tour de France, is the team’s sporting manager.
Woods, 38, recently announced this season will be his last a pro rider. Fellow Canadian Derek Gee is currently embroiled in a contract dispute with the team.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2025.