Founder and CEO of Factor Bikes Rob Giletis has said the brand's sponsorship of Israel–Premier Tech will no longer be tenable without a name change and a disassociation with the country of Israel, according to reports.
Factor has met with Israel–Premier Tech’s owner Sylvan Adams to discuss the partnership, a change of name and the nationality of the team, reported Cyclingnews.
“I've already told the team: Without a name change, without a flag change, we won't continue,” Gitelis said to Cyclingnews.
“It's not a matter of right or wrong anymore. It's become too controversial around our brand, and my responsibility is to my employees and my shareholders, to give them maximum space with which to grow this company and make it profitable. Adding additional level of conflict or complexity, we just can't accept that any more.
“It's no longer a personal thing of I support this or I support that. There's just a certain level of controversy we just can't have surrounding the brand,” said Gitelis.
Cyclingnews said it understands Adams is on board with Israel–Premier Tech changing its name, but that the Israeli-Canadian business and self-proclaimed ‘ambassador’ for Israel assumed the team would retain Israel’s flag.
Israel–Premier Tech told BikeRadar: “The team is currently in the planning phase for 2026 team branding and will communicate any potential changes in due course.”
Teams must register their nationality and the nationality of their paying agent by October 15, according to cycling’s governing body, the UCI.
Rumours of a potential name change follow persistent protests at the Vuelta a España against the participation of Israel–Premier Tech, which led to five stages being shortened and the largest mobilisation of police in Madrid since the city hosted the NATO Summit in 2022.
The team removed ‘Israel’ from its kit during La Vuelta, citing security concerns. It also raced as ‘IPT’ at the GP of Québec and the GP de Montréal earlier in September.
Stephanie Adam, a campaigner for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, which called for the protests at La Vuelta, told BikeRadar that Israel–Premier Tech’s participation in the race was “sportswashing pure and simple”. She said that the team “was explicitly created to whitewash and distract from Israel’s grave crimes against Palestinians”.
Since La Vuelta, a UN commission found that Israel has committed Genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Gitelis told Cyclingnews that the conversions around Israel–Premier Tech changing its name are not new.
“This isn't something that started a week ago, 10 days ago, a month ago. This has been going on now since nearly two years. We've found it difficult for the past two years to really use and activate the team to the level that we would like to. We've been politically sensitive, as it's a difficult time,” he said.
Gitelis said Factor does not have a contract with Israel–Premier Tech for 2026 or beyond. “We did have a verbal commitment to continue, but things have escalated since then that we can no longer continue to meet that verbal commitment, ” he said.
