Dense and almost impossible schedule • Millions of euro losses • Dilemma about returning to activity during the new routine • And: What to do with races to be held in Corona-beaten countries? • None of this matters - the riding industry is resurrected
Silvan Adams with Israel Academic Cycling. Tomorrow's training camp in the north
Photo:
Noa Arnon
Even before we dive into the crowded schedule - on the impossible border - that awaits the Israel Startup Nation cycling team, take a look at the attached table and reach the final race, the one that will sign the all-time historic sports season - the Lombardia race, which will pass the country that suffered from 15 One thousand dead in the time of the damn corona virus.
The World Bicycle Association's season-ending race, at the end of October this year, is already welcome to call itself the most exciting industry. The gestures that are interwoven throughout the race will remind anyone who dares to forget in about five months what the virus has done to the world in general and Italy in particular.
In their first season at the World Tour rankings (the world's highest), the Israeli team managers did not dream of being dragged into a global crisis that would lead to millions of euros of losses, and would mainly halt the momentum with which they entered the riding season. While the riders train on trainers, everyone at home around the world, Sun's professional executives never stopped thinking about how to make a Corona routine. The task, as the race chart shows, is as stated on the impossible limit.
The first dilemma they face, even before the cyclists ever got on the bicycle seat, is how they get to the starting point. Sun riders are scattered all over the globe: from Australia through Canada, Europe, America to Israel. To reach Strada Bianca in Italy in August, they will need to be sure the host country will accept them without a full isolation requirement before boarding the tarmac roads.
The second and more realistic option, according to which the Sun Group is likely to operate, is the division of riders into countries and continents, and only those who can physically reach the races - and of course meet the professional requirements - will be the ones to represent it. The Giro D'Italia is expected to open in Budapest, and after three sections to reach Italy. How will this huge production wander - on the thousands of people who accompany it - between two countries? It is already a question that only time can answer.
You can start smiling. Riders during the last gyro // Photo: IP
The Affordable Decision
Guy Sagiv is the only Israeli member of the group who decided to stay in Girona, Spain, throughout the epidemic. He sat with his partner Omar Shapiro for close to two months in their apartment, but the punishment he imposed on himself might still pay off - his chances of being the only Israeli in the Tour de France improved accordingly. Now it remains to be seen whether he is a good fit and the Milan-San Remo classic, which comes before the column, has already become his "home race".
On Monday, a three-day training camp will be opened in Moshav Beit Hillel, north of Israel, to which the Israelis of the Sun group will come: Guy Niv, Omar Goldstein and Itamar Einhorn who returned to Israel during the Corona period. The Israeli cyclists will be joined by academic cycling, which is largely based on Israelis and was supposed to compete this season in the Continental League (the third best in the world), but of course also suffered from the freezing of the world of sports. This will be the first time a group of professional riders will train together since restrictions have been lifted.
