One week before the opening of the prestigious competition, calls in France against the participation of Israel Start-up Nation • The BDS published the photos of the French riders of the Israeli team and called on the public to demand that they not ride in a "team working to promote Israeli apartheid through sports"

• The publications against the riders of Israel Startup Nation on social media

On the professional side, the managers are concerned about the health condition of Irish rider Dan Martin. Martin was injured in the second section of the Dauphina Criterium, and is considered one of the main riders on whom the team built as candidates to compete for a place in the top ten in the overall standings. 

On the off-road side, the club management is dealing with old-fashioned harassment, ones it has encountered in almost every race in recent years. In 2018, I accompanied the group - then in its original name Israel Academic Cycling - to Valletta Andalusia held in Spain. That was when the group was still riding at the pro-Continental level, but that did not bother the haters. 

Even before entering the first section of the competition, I was warned of protesters who might slightly cloud the group's sporting atmosphere, which includes riders from more than 15 countries and those who hold diverse beliefs - from Judaism, through Christianity and Islam to those who believe only in the power of their feet.

It was not too long before spectators armed with Palestinian flags and protest signs in Spanish with clear drawings of no-entry signs "decorated" the route on which the section passed. In a conversation with one of the stars of the team at the time, Ruben Plaza, the Spanish rider, who is highly respected in his country, admitted: 

In Dubai, the riders were asked for autographs

Now - a week before the big celebration in Nice on the French Riviera - the voices of protest against the Israeli team's participation in the Tour de France are rising again. In the meantime, a campaign is being circulated on social media calling for them to be removed from the column, but in the Sun group, you will not be surprised to hear, not surprised.

"I am thrilled that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a peace agreement," said Silvan Adams, one of the Sun Group owners, this week. With open arms by the Israeli public. "

By the way, after the gyro returned to Italy, already in the fourth segment held in Sicily, the pair of Israeli riders Guy Sagiv and Guy Niv experienced a large protest demonstration throughout the segment. "They just add more motivation to me," Niv said at the time. 

Two years later Adams' "affair" with the Gulf states continued. At the beginning of the season, just before the outbreak of the corona, the United Arab Emirates hosted its official column - which is gaining momentum as a prestigious and prestigious race - to which the Israeli team has already received an official invitation. "The team rode throughout the race on the streets of Dubai, with a local crowd of fans by the side of the road, who at the end of the sections asked them for autographs, selfies and souvenirs with symbols of the State of Israel, headed by a Star of David," said Adams.

The UAE column was cut short in the middle due to the outbreak of the corona virus and the discovery of some positive carriers among the competition organizers. After the panic subsided, the riders were released from the isolation in which they were staying at the hotel and hurried to leave the country. Adams, who was in Dubai with his co-owner Ron Bar-On, did not immediately return to Israel but stopped for a meeting with the Prince of Bahrain, whom he met in June 2019 when he was invited to a conference in Manama, the state capital from the Gulf. 

"One sniper over the Tour de France"

The bulk of the fire is currently being absorbed by the Sun team, mainly French riders Rudy Barbier, Alexis Renard and sprinter Hugo Hofstetter, who is also scheduled to be included in the opening eight of the Sun for the Tour de France. Yesterday, French MP Meir Habib asked to secure the Sun team ("Should the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 be mentioned?"), After revealing calls on his Facebook page against the Israeli team.

The BDS organization published the names and photos of Barbier, Renard and Hofstetter and wrote: "These three French riders will compete in the Tour de France under the colors of Israel Start-up Nation, which works to promote the Israeli apartheid through sports. Do not hesitate to post a comment on each of them's private page. To ask them not to take part in this scandalous activity. " 

The publication drew a series of reactions calling for harm to riders, such as: "One sniper over the Tour de France" and "Birds shooting, as they do in Palestine."

Adams has a regular sentence that he uses from the first minute he and Bar-On introduced the team at the press conference at the Peres Center in Jaffa in 2017: "Through sports we build bridges and new friendships, while breaking down barriers to bring warm peace with our neighbors." 

Now, a week before the team's biggest record in which millions of euros have been invested this year, Adams will hope that the voice of sports fans across France will prevail over those calling for a boycott.