Blue-and-white history: The Israel Start-up Nation Group has announced that for the first time in a row, an Israeli rider will ride in the Tour de France • Guy Niv, who has already passed the Giro d'Italia, is ready for the task: "

• dialect. Do not want to be used as a backdrop

  Photo: 

  Noa Arnon

As first published yesterday on the Israel Today website, the Israel Start-up Nation group will send two Israeli riders to the Tour de France - Guy Niv and Guy Sagiv, both graduates of the prestigious Giro d'Italia.

According to the professional plan, Guy Niv (26) will be the one to open the lineup for the largest and most respected column in the world, and Guy Sagiv will also come to Nice - the city from which the column will jump - and serve as a backup in case one of the riders fails to make it to the first section. Against the background of the corona virus and its spread, this would not be an absurd situation to see Niv and Sagiv together in a historical column that no Israeli had dreamed of a few years ago. Sagiv (25)'s entry into the squad can only happen before the jump to the first section.

"Of course I'm waiting for the Champs Elysees, it's an amazing and exciting picture that has become a dream of every rider, professional and amateur," Niv told Israel Today yesterday, "I will not be in Paris just for the picture - I want more than that. I want to get into escapes and maybe escape. "One that will get permission to continue until the finish line. First of all, I am a team rider, and I will have the tasks from the manager."

On the fact that next Saturday he is expected to record a huge history in a country with a cycling culture that is still in its infancy, Niv said: "It is a great privilege to represent the country that I love so much on the biggest stage in the world. Fulfilling a personal dream since I was a bar mitzvah boy who asked his parents for this gift - to be present as a fan in the column. "

Niv may be a rookie in terms of Grand Tour racing, but after failing once in the Giro d'Italia and a year later successfully completing it, it seems that a climber from Atzmon in the Western Galilee has what it takes to cross the 21 sections that pass between the Alps and the Pyrenees. Of about 3,500 km.

dialect. Israeli Ambassador to the Tour de France // Photo: Noa Arnon 

"The Criterium du Dupina race, which ended last week, definitely helped me get out of those days what I wanted," Niv said yesterday, "on the one hand I got a good look at the race I was going to experience in the Tour de France, on the other hand, with each passing day I felt better, "Both physically and mentally, after I managed to get myself into one of the escapes in one of the sections. I came out very aware of the magnitude of the challenge that awaits me."

As of yesterday, expectations of you have risen to particularly high levels.

"I put the greatest expectations and pressure on myself alone, although of course there is a huge media buzz that I already feel. I know there will be a lot of eyes on me and the team, but I feel ready for this challenge. It will be okay, everything that goes around will stay around."

During the closure period in Israel, when you trained on Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights, did you think it would end with a tour in the Tour de France?

"Unequivocally yes, that's what motivated me throughout this period of uncertainty. When I climbed Mount Hermon I imagined myself in the Alps and the Pyrenees, and I'm glad that day has come."

And what are your plans until the jump next Saturday in Nice?

"To be alone, sort of. Ben Hermans and I are in an altitude camp an hour and a half away from Nice. This is the last training and we are trying very hard to keep to ourselves. There is not much to do right now, other than worry about getting sharp and fit."

A few hours before the announcement of Niv as an Israeli to ride in the Tour de France, the British Inaus group released an official announcement that it had given up Chris Fromm and Grant Thomas for the opening lineup of the column. For the legendary rider, who will ride next season for the Israeli Sun team, this is a difficult but relatively predictable blow. Despite wanting to add a fifth win in the column, Fromm looks far from his peak fitness in the Criterium du Dopina and he is still recovering from the serious injury he suffered in the exact same race last year.

Sagiv. Returning to Italy // Photo: Noa Arnon 

Sagiv returns to the Giro

Simultaneously with the announcement of Niv's selection for the lineup in the column, the team has confirmed that Guy Sagiv will be the one to ride in the Giro d'Italia this year - for the second time in his career. Omar Goldstein will ride for the first time in his career in the Grand Tour - in the Spanish Valletta, a difficult and prestigious race no less than the Giro.

"The selection of Israelis for the big columns reflects our confidence and trust in them and their importance for us," said the team owner, Sylvan Adams. "The column is of course the biggest of all. It is a groundbreaking and historic event for the State of Israel and Israeli sports, and of course for the team and Guy Niv. "Israel on the map and in a big way. I am proud of the valley that worked very hard to reach this moment."