Israel Schwartzman, who is working towards promotion to the World Tour, renews his contract and confirms his roster – He maintains his 14th place and promotion zone | cyclowired
Israeli Premier Tech, who made great progress with 29 wins this season, have renewed the contract of Michael Schwarzman (Germany) for one year. With this, the team has finalized its 30-man roster and has assembled a solid lineup for promotion to the World Team.
Michael Schwarzmann (Germany), who joined this year as a lead-out for ace sprinter Pascal Ackermann (Germany), is 33 years old. “This year, our players and staff came together as one team, so we want to do even better next year. We want to take what we learned this year and apply it to next year. We have a good combination of young players, talented players, and experienced players. I want to help the team achieve its goals,” Schwartzman said. The contract period is one year until the end of 2025.
2024 was a successful season for Israel, with Stephen Williams (Great Britain) winning the Tour Down Under overall and La Fleche Wallonne, and Michael Woods (Canada) winning the Vuelta a España section. They also accumulated 29 wins (including overall wins), tied for the most in 2019, and showed a strength comparable to the world teams.
Stephen Williams (Great Britain, Israel Premier Tech) with 6 wins this season photo: CorVos
What is unique about Israel is that they do not rely on an absolute ace, but rather have their main players, who change depending on the race, achieve victory. Also, 21-year-old Joseph Blackmore (UK), who is a member of the lower team and raced with the top team as a trainee this year, won the Tour de L’Avenir overall. He has also succeeded in developing young riders, winning the overall victory in the Tour de Taiwan in the 1st class (third from the top).
Meanwhile, Gai Sadif (Israel), who has been with the team since its founding in 2015, and veteran Rick Zabel (Germany) have retired. Also, one of their aces, Dylan Toons (Belgium), transferred to Cofidis.
Alexei Lutsenko (Kazakhstan, Astana Kazakhstan) leaves his home team and joins the team photo: CorVos
However, Israel acquired Alexei Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), a veteran with 43 professional wins, from Astana Kazakhstan on a two-year contract. Furthermore, we have steadily strengthened the team by adding Jan Hilt (Czech Republic, Soudal Quickstep) and Matthijs Louvel (France, Arkea B&B Hotels). Pier-Andre Cote, Canada’s current time trial champion, has also been promoted from the lower teams.
Israel currently ranks 14th in the UCI team rankings. Since they are staying within 18th place, which is a condition for promotion, they can be said to be a solid roster for the world team for the first time since 2022.