The question of whether the bike craze in Israel is the property of a single person named Sylvan Adams or a phenomenon that should be taken seriously, received a partial answer in the past five days with an option to complete the puzzle in the future when the veldrom facility in Tel Aviv hosted the World Youth Championship up to the age of 18.
The tickets, a total of approximately 4,000 in number for all days, were quickly sold at a price of NIS 20 per ticket.
In the crowd in the grandstand surrounding the cycling track were not only the families of the riders, but also fans of the cycling industry who were looking for attractions for the end of the summer with their children.
Israel is beginning to fall in love with the cycling industry, and the union and the Olympic Committee are already fantasizing about an Olympic medal at the games to be held in Los Angeles in 2028. Blessed are the believers.
If you have to pick one exciting story, then it seems to be the New Zealand team.
Not because of the achievements, but because of the fact that in a conversation with them they find out that this is their first big competition since the corona virus.
The world championship in youth track cycling in Tel Aviv.
It was fascinating, photo: Oren Aharoni
While Israel already celebrates at international events and in full stadiums, for them the World Youth Championship is a celebration at the level of the World Cup in soccer.
Their atmosphere in the stands gave us an idea of what these competitions look like in the world.
And no, we did not forget that the velodrome in Tel Aviv was supposed to host the Champions League round, but it was stolen from us due to the corona virus.
The Israeli reserve is impressive in its size, if not in its achievements, but relative to a virgin sport in the country, our young men and women are quite promising riders.
Now you have to think about how to keep them in the industry against empires with huge budgets.
Such a youth is simply too bad to miss.
The world championship in youth track cycling in Tel Aviv.
It was fascinating, photo: Oren Aharoni
And if we were talking about the industry in general, it was nice to see the number of volunteers who came to make this impressive event work.
To remind you, this is not an Olympic Games, it's all a championship (albeit world) for youth.
When such a large international event takes place in the country, it seems that the Israelis are nevertheless addicted to sports, even if it is not necessarily football or basketball.
Youth track in Tel Aviv - the first day, photo: Oren Aharoni
The next test is of course that of continuity.
Building on one philanthropist, however rich and in love with sports, is not enough.
Both the state, the sports authorities and various sponsors need to wake up.
Otherwise, the day Sylvan Adams gets fed up, this industry will collapse.
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