‘We hope to make some noise’
Canadian-born co-owner has big plans for Israel Start-Up Nation team
With British star Chris Froome and Ottawa’s Michael Woods leading the way this year, Canadian-born co-owner Sylvan Adams has big plans for the Israel Start-Up Nation team.
And they go well beyond mere success in the cycling world.
In convincing the Giro d’Italia to start the 2018 race with three stages in Israel, the 62-year-old from Montreal showcased his adopted country.
“The entire country was on display, for three glorious days,” Adams said. “Basically we had hundred of millions of firsttime visitors to Israel, via their TV screens, seeing it in an unvarnished way.”
Staging the start of the race in Israel reportedly cost millions, with Adams stepping up to help make it happen. After emigrating to Israel with his wife in late 2015 following a successful career as president and CEO of Iberville Developments, a large real-estate company, Adams had business cards printed up with the title “Self-appointed ambassador at large for Israel.”
“And I decided I’m going to devote this chapter of my life to promoting my new country, my adopted country, using sporting and other cultural activities to show what I call the true face of Israel,” Adams said in an interview from Spain where his team was in pre-season training.
For Adams, Israel is a country open, tolerant, diverse and fiercely democratic.
“And of course we’re a safe country. People don’t realize it because of the news cycle,” he said. “My projects are kind of
trying to show the rest of the world this normal Israel.”
Adams is spreading his largesse. He helped build a velodrome in Tel Aviv and donated some $39 million for a new emergency care wing at a Tel Aviv hospital. He has also created the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute (SASI) at Tel Aviv University, a facility dedicated to sports science that has partnered with Montreal’s McGill University. There is also the Sylvan Adams commuter cycling path network in Tel Aviv.
In addition to being co-owner of Israel Start-Up Nation, Adams is also team CEO. He negotiated the deals to bring Woods and Froome into the fold.
“I’m very actively involved in the team. It does take up a significant amount of my time,” said Adams.
While Adams’ team had moments to savour in 2020 — British rider Alex Dowsett won Stage 8 of the Giro while Ireland’s Dan Martin took Stage 3
of the Spanish Vuelta (Woods won Stage 7 with his former team) — Adams is looking for significant improvements this season.
That’s because his team didn’t get its WorldTour licence until the last day possible before the 2020 season, buying it from the Katusha-Alpecin team. In essence, last year’s squad was built as a lower-tier Pro Continental team.
“We had some good riders certainly — Andre Greipel and Dan Martin — so we were a fair team,” said Adams. “But this year we’re a real WorldTour team. We built the roster because we know we are in the WorldTour. And we built the roster with certain goals in mind.
“We’re a vastly improved team and we hope to make some noise this season.”
Adams goes back years with Woods, whom he first heard about from Montreal’s Paulo Saldanha, a former Ironman
triathlete who is Israel Start-Up Nation’s performance manager.
“I get a call from Paulo and he says ‘Sylvan, I’ve just tested this guy and he’s the best athlete I’ve ever tested from an endurance sport, natural physical gifts perspective.’ ”
The marquee addition is Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner who came over from Team Ineos.
“One of the reasons I’m excited about having Chris Froome and having a much better team is everybody pays attention to the winner,” Adams said. “So it brings us more positive attention and I’m all for it.”
Woods also points to the addition of South Africa’s Daryl Impey, a two-time winner of the Tour Down Under, and Belgian’s Sep Vanmarcke.
“We’ve got a really strong roster,” said Woods. “I think we’ve certainly going to be one of the top teams this year.”