BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Italian cycle apparel brand Nalini has made the race kit worn by riders from the Israel Cycling Academy Pro Continental team. The team was first on the stage at last night’s team presentation in the centre of Jerusalem.
The Giro starts today with a 9.7km individual time trial through the streets of Jerusalem, the first of three stages in Israel. The Israel Cycling Academy team is the Israeli first team to have entered a Grand Tour.
The team is owned and funded by Canadian real-estate billionaire Sylvan Adams. He also supplied cash to build a spanking new velodrome in Tel Aviv – which opened earlier this week and is the first in the Middle East –and he also seed-funded the Sylvan Adams Cycle Network in Tel Aviv, the start of a cycleways network in the city.
The partnership between Nalini and Israel Cycling Academy started in 2018.
Nalini owner Claudio Mantovani said: “The drive for new challenges has always been one of our strengths. We were excited by the project and professionalism of Israel Cycling Academy: they will be rookies on such a big stage like the Giro d’Italia, but we feel like they might surprise many, and show off prominently over the three weeks."
The Israel Cycling Academy is at the Israeli "Big Start" start with eight riders. Belgian Ben Hermans and Italian Kristian Sbaragli will be the two leaders, the former looking at the mountain stages, the latter looking to feature in sprint finishes. Two-time Spanish National Champion Rubén Plaza will act as a protected stage hunter, in his quest to add a Giro d’Italia win to his partial successes at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. Latvian Krists Neilands – who showed off on the Poggio at 2018 Milan-Sanremo – Australian Zakkari Dempster, Canadian Guillaume Boivin and Israelis Guy Niv and Guy Sagiv round out the team’s line-up.
Team members are wearing Nalini’s Team Pro line apparel, a custom cycling wear collection, tailor-made to ensure a perfect fit for every rider.
Replica kit will be available at retail soon.
