Israel Start-Up Nation

In November 2014, the pair launched the Israel Cycling Academy (ICA), with the aim of providing an opportunity for young and talented cyclists to compete in the international arena and launch their professional careers. This team was intended to provide inspiration, hope and faith to future generations of Israelis. [1]

The team's first ever victory came in the fourth stage of the 2015 Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, which was won by Daniel Turek.[2]

On 2 July 2015, the Israeli Road Racing Champion Guy Sagiv joined the ranks of ICA.[3]

In 2018, the team participated in a cycling monument event for the first time – 2018 Milan-San Remo, and in a grand tour for the first time – the 2018 Giro d'Italia. The Giro d’Italia opening stage took place in Jerusalem on May 4, 2018 – the first time in the Giro‘s 101 years of existence that it has started outside Europe. The Giro held its second and third stages in Israel before it continued onto European soil. The three stages raced in Israel attracted considerable interest from the Israeli public, with many thousands of Israelis lining up along the route and supporting the riders and especially the ICA home team. It was considered a significant success. ICA co-owner Sylvan Adams was the driving force behind the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel, having financed a significant part of the race budget. ICA's best performance in the Giro was recorded in the 18th stage, when its Spanish rider Ruben Plaza finished in second place. Three days later when the team completed the Giro in Rome, Guy Sagiv became the first-ever Israeli cyclist to finish a grand tour.

In 2019, in its fifth season of existence, ICA enlarged its team roster to 30 riders and set up a racing program that has exceeded 250 racing days all around the globe. The team was invited to take part in the Giro d’Italia In May 2019 and will make its first appearance in the Tour of California.

The team owners, Ron Baron and Sylvan Adams, have set the team's goal as participation in the world’s biggest races including the Tour de France, in order to continue inspiring and developing a new generation of Israeli cyclists.

In January 2019 the team opened three cycling special youth programs in Israel and formed a youth cycling team in the Arab village of Shfaram. To further develop young Israeli cyclists, ICA operates a development team with a select group of under-23 riders. They have also established a special partnership with one of the leading French amateur teams – Côte d’Armor – which enables its young development team riders to race in France and gain valuable experience overseas.

In October 2019, ICA completed the takeover of UCI World Tour team Katusha-Alpecin, including its UCI WorldTour license. As a result, ICA was due to become a UCI World Tour team, pending UCI approval.[4] The UCI approved the team's promotion to World Tour status in December of that year, and the team subsequently changed its name to Israel Start Up Nation, while the former name became the name of the team's continental level development squad.[5]

In July 2020 it was announced that 7 time Grand Tour winner Chris Froome would join the team for the 2021 season.[6]

In August and September 2020 they took part in the 2020 Tour de France, finishing 19th out of 22 teams in the Team classification.[7] On 11 October 2020 the team won a Grand Tour stage for the first time when British rider Alex Dowsett won Stage 8 of the 2020 Giro d'Italia.[8] They won another Grand Tour stage 11 days later when Irish rider Dan Martin won Stage 3 of the 2020 Vuelta a España, a result that also took him up from 3rd to 2nd in the General classification, as well as from 3rd to 2nd in the Points classification and from 7th to 2nd in the Mountains classification; he eventually finished 4th in the General classification, 3rd in the Points classification, and 10th in the Mountains classification, while Israel Start-Up Nation finished 18th out of 22 in the Team classification.[9][10]

On December 4, 2020, the team announced Cherie Pridham as a new sports director, the first woman to assume the role on a men's world tour team.[11][12]

As of 1 January 2021.[13]

Rider Date of birth  Rudy Barbier (FRA) (1992-12-18) 18 December 1992  Sebastian Berwick (AUS) (1999-12-15) 15 December 1999  Patrick Bevin (NZL) (1991-02-15) 15 February 1991  Jenthe Biermans (BEL) (1995-10-30) 30 October 1995  Guillaume Boivin (CAN) (1989-05-25) 25 May 1989  Matthias Brändle (AUT) (1989-12-07) 7 December 1989  Alexander Cataford (CAN) (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993  Davide Cimolai (ITA) (1989-08-13) 13 August 1989  Alessandro De Marchi (ITA) (1986-05-19) 19 May 1986  Alex Dowsett (GBR) (1988-10-03) 3 October 1988  Itamar Einhorn (ISR) (1997-09-20) 20 September 1997  Chris Froome (GBR) (1985-05-20) 20 May 1985  Omer Goldstein (ISR) (1996-08-13) 13 August 1996  André Greipel (GER) (1982-07-16) 16 July 1982  Carl Fredrik Hagen (NOR) (1991-09-26) 26 September 1991  Ben Hermans (BEL) (1986-06-08) 8 June 1986

Rider Date of birth  Hugo Hofstetter (FRA) (1994-02-13) 13 February 1994  Reto Hollenstein (SUI) (1985-08-22) 22 August 1985  Daryl Impey (RSA) (1984-12-06) 6 December 1984  Dan Martin (IRL) (1986-08-20) 20 August 1986  Krists Neilands (LAT) (1994-08-18) 18 August 1994  Guy Niv (ISR) (1994-03-08) 8 March 1994  James Piccoli (CAN) (1991-09-05) 5 September 1991  Alexis Renard (FRA) (1999-06-01) 1 June 1999  Guy Sagiv (ISR) (1994-12-05) 5 December 1994  Norman Vahtra (EST) (1996-11-23) 23 November 1996  Tom Van Asbroeck (BEL) (1990-04-19) 19 April 1990  Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) (1988-07-28) 28 July 1988  Michael Woods (CAN) (1986-10-12) 12 October 1986  Mads Würtz Schmidt (DEN) (1994-03-31) 31 March 1994  Rick Zabel (GER) (1993-12-07) 7 December 1993

• Sports in Israel

• Official website