Professional cyclist Pascal Ackermann finally wants to go to the Tour de France for the first time this year. But with his new team Israel-Premier Tech, the sprinter is inadvertently catapulted into the middle of world politics at the start of the season in the United Arab Emirates.
Sylvan Adams looks out over the beach promenade in Tel Aviv from his apartment on this February day in 2024. He looks up to people Inline skates Roll relaxed through the salty air on the Mediterranean coast. He himself has just returned from his daily training tour on his racing bike. “Life is actually quite normal here”says the 65-year-old in a telephone conversation with Sportschau. But of course Adams knows that for outsiders, nothing is currently normal in his new home.
There is war – Israel’s army invaded the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7th last year. Missile alarms are the order of the day in Tel Aviv, just as school bells ring in Central Europe. It is probably the job of the company boss Adams to convey war and terror as a kind of unavoidable background noise to his employees and for the sake of the company’s purpose.
A heart for German professional cyclists
Adams is not only an enthusiastic cyclist himself – last year he was double world champion in his age group. Since he emigrated from Canada to Israel nine years ago, he has financed a cycling team largely from his private assets: Israel-Premier Tech. The cycling patron with Jewish roots has a heart for German cyclists: he once brought André Greipel into his team – the collaboration was mixed, the eleven-time Tour stage winner was already past his peak.
The next German-Israeli collaboration should be more successful: the team has signed Pascal Ackermann for the new season, from whom Adams expects great success. “A few years ago Pascal was one of the three best sprinters in the world – he should be back there”says the Israeli whose parents once survived the Holocaust in Romania. And he goes into raptures about the new signing from Germany: “I love Pascal! What a nice young man.”
Win-win in German-Israeli cooperation?
It sounds like it could be a happy and successful working relationship. In recent years, the Israeli cycling team has been more of a venue for professional cyclists – the four times Tour de France-Winner Christopher Froome (38) has been undergoing a highly paid rehabilitation program here since his serious training accident in 2019. The team was recently over-aged and was relegated from the first league of world cycling at the end of the 2022 season due to poor racing results.
The 30-year-old Ackermann is no longer a youngster either. But his type is in demand in Israel. “I’m in good hands with Israel-Premier Tech because it’s a smaller team. They’re not the big GC riders (Racers who aim for good overall placings in stage races; Ed.) included. More emphasis is placed on stage wins and points. And sprinters are extremely valuable for collecting points.”says Ackermann.
Sportschau Tourfunk, November 7th, 2023 10:41 a.m
Back to the top of the world together
The new employer needs a lot of ranking points in order to get back into the first league of world cycling at the next opportunity at the end of the 2025 season World Tour, to return. Ackermann’s contract runs until then – provisionally. The German, who lives in Vorarlberg, Austria, recently had lean years with the UAE Emirates team, where he received little help in the sprints. Everything there was geared towards the superstar, the two-time tour winner Tadej Pogacar. In two years, Ackermann only celebrated as first four times – after 36 victories in the previous four years at Bora-hansgrohe.
Restart in the desert
Now things should get better again. At Israel-Premier Tech, he is supported by Michael Schwarzmann and Rick Zabel, two specialists in preparing for a mass sprint. “This is a sprint train that I can rely on”says Ackermann about the two compatriots. The collaboration really begins on Monday (February 19, 2024). Then Ackermann will compete as a professional cyclist for the first time in the new Israel-Premier Tech jersey: in the UAE Tour, a race over seven stages through the United Arab Emirates.
“It’s perfect because we have a chance of a sprint there on four stages”emphasizes Ackermann and continues: “We want to see where we stand compared to the others. Every team sends a top sprinter with a top team.” Numerous tour stage winners such as former world champions Mark Cavendish (Team Astana), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM company), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R) are reported.
A normal bike race?
But couldn’t a race on Arab soil currently be conflictual and risky for cyclists who compete in a jersey with the word Israel written on it? “It’s a completely normal bike race”, race organizer RCS said upon request that no special security measures were planned. The Israeli government had advised its own athletes to be cautious in view of the threat of anti-Semitic attacks when competing abroad.
And most recently, the Middle East conflict followed the cycling scene as far as Australia, where Ackermann’s teammate Simon Clarke faced a sit-in by pro-Palestinian protesters on the track at the national championship. He started as an Australian in the Team Israel jersey.
At least the Emirates are in relatively safe territory; the country made peace with Israel in 2020. Nevertheless, according to Adams, the team’s trip to the UAE Tour is being supervised by the Israeli government and the Mossad secret service – which is likely to indicate a dangerous situation.
Just sports, no politics
In view of the Middle East conflict that has just escalated again, Adams would like the media to separate politics and sport on his team. “We are not fighting with the team in the Gaza conflict. We have sporting goals”, he emphasizes. But in 2022, the team boss was quoted on his racing team’s website as saying: “Israel-Premier Tech is not just the team of Israel. We are the team of the Jewish people.” This could definitely become ballast on the racing bikes of his professionals – especially when driving through the Arab culture.
A long sprint to France
Pascal Ackermann doesn’t even want to think about that, he just wants to ride his bike really fast and show that he belongs to the group of the world’s best sprinters. His big goal for this season: He finally wants to take part in the Tour de France for the first time. “For me, the Tour de France is the race I’m still missing – I really want to win a stage there.”