Pair of Israeli Guys, Sagiv and Niv, make Giro team
Israel Cycling Academy will start the historic Giro d’Italia in Jerusalem next Friday with a pair of Israeli riders, with Guy Sagiv and Guy Niv to become the first blue-andwhite cyclists to ever take part in a Grand Tour.
Joining them at the Giro will be Italian Kristian Sbaragli, Australian Zak Dempster, Latvian national champion Krists Neilands, former Canadian national champion Guillaume Boivin, Belgian Ben Hermans, and Spaniard Ruben Plaza.
The team was expected to only name one Israeli to the eight-man squad, but ultimately decided that both Sagiv and Niv deserved a chance.
Making his Grand Tour debut at 23, Sagiv, from Givat Nili, is currently in his third year as a professional cyclist. “He is a solid rider,” said Team Manager Kjell Carlstrom. “He has shown that we can always count on him to be an asset for the team. He deserves his place at the Giro.”
Sagiv said, “I am so honored to be selected and I believe I have earned this. Now I am focusing on only one thing: helping my teammates. This is my role and I will do everything I can to support our squad.”
Niv was a full-time mountain biker just a year ago. The 24-year-old climber from Misgav in northern Israel, decided to concentrate on road cycling after he began to race with Israel Cycling Academy’s development team in 2017. He barely finished the first stage at the 2017 Tour of Utah, but he has since made enormous strides.
“Nobody in this team has made so much progress in such a short time,” said Carlstrom. “The Giro will be extremely tough on him, especially the flat and windy stages. But Guy has an iron will and such a strong character that we believe he can overcome it. He is courageous and has come so far that we felt he deserved the chance. This is in line with the Academy’s DNA.”
Niv said, “I was so relieved to get selected. I was so stressed waiting the last 24 hours. I am very proud that the team is putting their trust in me. Selecting Sagiv and me shows Israel and the world that Israel is truly becoming a cycling country with riders taking the sport seriously and achieving their dreams. But beyond this, I believe that I can make it to the last stage in Rome. I see myself at the finish line there!”
The team acknowledged the decision to bring two young Israeli riders is a dramatic and somewhat surprising one.
“The Giro squad was selected with the objective of picking the best eight men to achieve our specific goals in our first Grand Tour. I am particularly proud that two Israeli riders made the cut on pure merit, in furtherance of our team goals,” said team co-owner Sylvan Adams.
“This means that our development program is working. It would have been an unthinkable dream just a couple of years ago to place an Israeli in a Grand Tour and now we have two.” ISRAELI GUY NIV (above) was included in Israel Cycling Academy’s eight-man lineup for the Giro d’Italia together with countryman Guy Sagiv, a surprise decision by the team as only one blue-andwhite rider was expected to be picked.