Our cyclists are ready to step onto the Olympic podium, says billionaire Israel team patron Sylvan Adams

Sylvan Adams is a man always on the move, such are the many projects he is involved with to help promote Israel. But over the last three weeks, the self-made billionaire, philanthropist and keen cyclist has literally been on the move, clocking up more than 1,000 miles riding alongside the Israeli team he proudly owns, as they participated in this year’s Tour de France.

Israeli – Premier Tech has had an incredible year at the prestigious peloton, garnering 13 top-10 finishes overall, while cyclist Derek Gee finished ninth as he crossed the finish line on Sunday evening.

It’s the first time the team founded in 2014 by Sylvan, who is himself a multiple title holder, has made it into the top 10 at the Tour De France, securing Israel as not only a team to watch, but one that is a serious contender at this year’s Olympic Games, starting in Paris tomorrow (Friday).

When we speak, it’s the day after the Tour ended in Nice, but remarkably there’s no time for Sylvan, 65, who still possesses an inordinate amount of energy, to rest on his laurels.

He’s mid-commute for a short stint in Spain, before heading back to the French capital with high hopes of a medals haul for Israel at the Olympics.

“I’m very proud of the way the guys raced,” gushes Sylvan, who has himself won nine Canadian titles, four world masters championship titles and eight gold medals at the Maccabiah Games.

“Throughout the Tour we were present on the front foot, not on the back foot. The boys really raced together, they raced for one another. In the last difficult days of the tour, Derek was very grateful for the support he received, and he himself rode like a trooper.”

On his business card, Sylvan describes himself as a “self-appointed ambassador for Israel”.

Even he laughs at the chutzpah-laden title, but it’s one more than justified by his considerable efforts over the last decade in using sports and culture to present Israel in a more positive light.

On that mission, he was the man responsible for bringing Madonna to Tel Aviv when the country hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as football legends Lionel Messi and Luis Suaraz for an international friendly between Barcelona and Uruguay in 2019.

His powers of persuasion also worked their magic on cycling bosses to hold the 2018 Giro d’Italia in Israel, making it the first time one of the sport’s Grand Tour races (which also include the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana) had been held outside of Europe.

The latter was a remarkable success, with more than a billion viewers watching the race while seeing for themselves the natural beauty of Israel, as the cyclists criss-crossed their way from Jerusalem to Haifa, Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva and Eilat over three days.

“A year later, Israel led the world in tourism growth, with a growth rate of 38%,” smiles Sylvan, who believes the cycling competition did much to promote Israel.

For all the obvious reasons amid the Hamas-Israel war, Sylvan and his team were concerned about protestors ahead of the Tour de France, not least of all because BDS supporters viciously named them “the genocide team”.

But their fears proved to be for nowt.

“For the last three weeks we carried the name ‘Israel’ on our jerseys and we felt nothing but love as we heard people cheering for us along the route,” recalls Sylvan. “That really warmed my heart, especially in this most difficult year, and it tells me that the vast majority of people – the ones I call the ‘silent majority’ – are with us.”

That said, Sylvan admits that in the wake of October 7 he has found himself “simply shocked by the venom of the haters and their obsession with us,” and promoting Israel has become a more challenging, if not poignant task.

For the Tour de France this year, Sylvan wanted to inspire his team to not only ride for Israel, but also in honour of those who have been impacted by recent events.

In the most special moment of the Tour de France, Sylvan arranged for Kibbutz Beeri survivor Avida Bachar, whose wife and 15-year-old son were murdered by Hamas terrorists, to fly over to France and meet the team. A keen cyclist himself, Avida lost a leg during the attack, but remarkably has taken up the sport again thanks to a prosthetic.

Tears of happiness flowed as Avida was given the chance to ride alongside the Israeli professionals on their training day.

“I told him he was my hero,” Sylvan tells me. “He was so philosophical about everything, saying he appreciated the time he spent with his wife and son, but that he also believes in life.

“His courage and his spirit moved me. There very few dry eyes among our riders as he spoke to us. Afterwards I told the team to be inspired by his resiliency, to do something special and honour what he had been through, and I think the guys really took that on board.”

The team were equally moved by meeting Ran Timor, whose son Guy – a promising young cyclist due to join the under-23 team next year – was killed by a drunk driver shortly before the Tour de France began.

Sylvan is especially drawn to those who show resilience, because he himself is the son of two Holocaust survivors from Romania.

“They call them the ‘greatest generation’, people who lived through that era, and I have to say my parents never dwelt on their personal suffering. Having gone through all they did, my father fought in the Israeli War of Independence and it made me realise the resilience of our people is something to behold.

“They never complained, they didn’t have a sense of victimhood, they just wanted to make a better life for themselves and I’m proud to be part of that culture rather than a culture that blames everybody else for their problems.

“Survivors of the Holocaust are there to be admired and emulated and I think we are now seeing the same grit and sense of community among Israelis evoked by the horrors of October 7.”

As a man who likes to look ahead, Sylvan’s focus is now firmly on the Olympic Games.

For the first time in 64 years, Israel has qualified for the men’s road race in the guise of Israeli champion Itamar Einhorn, while Rotem Gafinovitz has been entered for the women’s race. They are joined by mountain biker Tomer Zaltsman and track cyclist Mikhail Iakovlev, who at a mighty 6ft 6ins has had a custom-built bike made for him.

Sylvan smiles at the prospect of seeing his riders on the podium.

“Let’s see if Israel can’t win a medal at the Paris Olympics. I have high hopes we will be coming home with some bling.”