Foreigners disappoint and Israelis find it difficult to participate in races in Europe because they come from a "red" country • Less than three weeks to the Tour de France - time to make an order 

• Israel Startup Nation

  Photo: 

  Noa Arnon

In 19 days, Israel Startup's bicycle group will reach its historic high point - participation in the Tour de France. A little over two weeks, that's all the team managers and riders have to prove to themselves and the world that their professional place really deserves to be in the World Tour rankings. So far it is not working exactly as expected.

The team ended the last weekend in disappointment, after notable successes in the Polish race and at the Milan-San Remo monument. No riders in escapes, no serious threats of first place in the overall standings by the experienced and expensive riders, and the most difficult problem of all - without any Israeli rider in one of the races in races that at least seemingly justify the professional failure since the return of the Corona lag. Despite all this, the Sun management insists: "No matter what happens in the next two weeks, one Israeli rider will ride for sure in the Tour de France."

Team manager Chel Karlström, a former rider accustomed to dealing with pressure and change, told Israel Today: "Of course the Israelis are still in the game. Everyone was planning to take part in some races, but against the backdrop of the Corona everything has changed. Luckily, at least for now we have succeeded To maintain Guy Niv's participation in the Criterium du Dopina. "

On the absence of Israelis from recent races, he said: "We really wanted to see them compete more, including last weekend, but unfortunately, the Corona crisis has hit our Israelis hard. I can say unequivocally: our commitment to promote Israelis and see them in the biggest races of the team always It has been and always will be. It is part of our identity. "

Red goes up, blue goes down

Even before the professional question of whether there is an Israeli who can finish the column, Carlstrom had to deal with the new restrictions and laws introduced by the Corona epidemic, and he - unlike the rest of the world - also has riders holding passports issued in the Holy Land, currently painted red due to the virus.

Guy Sagiv, the first Israeli to complete the World Tour when he won the Giro d'Italia two years ago, hoped that the decision to stay in Spain would help him integrate quickly when the season returns. The reality and the Israeli passport slapped him in the face very quickly. Sagiv showed good ability in the column in Romania and from there was supposed to continue to the Polish column that ended yesterday, but the Poles were adamant and insisted that passport holders from red countries could not enter without isolation. In Poland, Sagiv was supposed to meet Guy Niv for an Israeli duel that could give a good perspective on their fitness ahead of the Tour de France. 

After the two did not arrive in Poland, Sagiv was supposed to continue to the classics of Milan - San Remo, which was held last Saturday and in which he has participated successfully for the past two years. Even before the race, the Italians announced that anyone who participated in the Romanian column would not be able to reach Milan without isolation. So Sagiv had to give up the monument and went up again to the mountains of Andorra in favor of a second training camp. "I'm not worried about the fitness of the Israelis," Carlstrom said. "We more or less know what level they are at, and I'm sure they could have been better if we were in a regular season."

You did not see them too much, they managed to move forward on vacation?

"They are constantly advancing, and whoever rides in the Tour de France will also be professionally important. At the beginning of the season and after the outbreak of the Corona virus, the Israelis were not harmed more or less than the other riders in the team. More". 

Leave Chris Fromm for a moment

Back to the dialect, which in parallel with the miss of the Polish column, is preparing for the French Criterium du Dopina, a five-section race with lots of mountainous challenges - just for its climbing character. Alongside him are expected to ride the big names in the industry today in a competition that weighs heavily in preparation for entry into the lineup in the Tour de France. And yes, this is also Chris Fromm's chance to prove for the last time to his team, Inaus, that he deserves their lineup in the column even though alongside him will be the column winners in the past and his "teammates" today, Grant Thomas and Agan Bernal. If Fromm does not excel, he may find himself in the Israeli team in a week and a half and not just at the end of the season. "I don't think it's necessary to talk about Fromm right now," Carlstrom insisted, "he is still a rider of the Inaus team and will only move to us at the end of the season." 

Dopina will also be a critical competition in the pursuit of the unique and guaranteed place of an Israeli rider in the French column. In other words, if Niv shines on the rises in it, his chances of being selected for the Tour de France will rise significantly. 

Two other Israeli riders received a professional blow because of the corona - Omar Goldstein and Itamar Einhorn. The first was found positive for the virus a few days after he managed to leave Israel and land in Spain and immediately went into isolation - the level of pressure around him rose. Einhorn, who made his way to Europe, missed out on a race in Burgos, Spain and is on his way to a race in Poland with Sun's subsidiary, Israel Academic Cycling, which competes in the third tier in quality.