Team Israel Start-Up Nation to return to the UAE Tour in February
The team made its first appearance in the UAE Tour last season and was warmly received as the first Israeli team to race in an Arab country.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFOmer Goldstein in the UAE(photo credit: BETTINI PHOTO)Team Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN) announce on Thursday its return to the UAE Tour only a few months after the two countries signed a historic peace agreement under the Abraham Accords.Israel's first professional cycling team made its first appearance in the UAE Tour last season and was warmly received as the first Israeli team to race in an Arab country. Now, their coming will be even more symbolic following the peace agreements signed between Israel and the UAE."We received a warm welcome from our neighbors last year, and I’m looking forward to renewing our friendships under this new umbrella of peace,” ISN’s co-owner Sylvan Adams said. Sylvan Adams in the UAE (Credit: Israel Start Up Nation)The UAE Tour starts on the 21st of February and finishes six days later. The race, that was supposed to start at the Vuelta a San Juan in January was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.ISN has confirmed that its new rider, Chris Froome, who is currently training in California, will make the UAE Tour his inaugural race for the team in 2021, alongside Israeli champion Omer Goldstein.“It's great to return, this time as the Israeli champion,” said Goldstein. “I hope that this time we will have Israelis visiting the UAE as peace tourists, coming to support us in person for the first time!”Adams continued, “It is great to be returning to the Emirates, with whom Israel signed a peace accord in September. I had the privilege of being present at the White House in Washington for the signing of the historic Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain."Froome will join the team for his racing debut in ISN’s blue and white in the United Arab Emirates. “Chris has been making great progress in California, rehabilitating from his injuries,” the team’s manager Kjell Carlstrom said. “We are excited to see him racing soon.”
