Yom Ha’azmaut virtual cycle race in Israel and you can participate
Israel’s only professional cycling team, Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN), is inviting fans from across the world to join an unprecedented double event of virtual racing on Israel’s Independence Day, Wednesday 29 April.
Israel Start-Up Nation team
Through the rides, thousands of medical masks will be donated to the country’s health workers, while also highlighting the role of Israeli tech companies in fighting coronavirus.
During the past several weeks, Israel Start-Up Nation has hosted several online rides to encourage the ‘stay at home’ message and to secure the donation of much needed medical masks for health professionals on the front line of the fight against coronavirus. Thousands of fans have participated in these rides alongside ISN star riders, including German legend Andre Greipel, Israeli Champion Guy Sagiv, and British former world record-holder Alex Dowsett.
Wednesday’s ISN “Independence Day spectacle” will see the team’s roster compete against one another via a special live stream. They will race in five separate squads, including one of Israeli riders (who have all represented Israel’s national team), facing four “Rest of the World” squads composed of ISN international riders.
Following a short break after the race, the team will lead a group ride open to all riders and fans from Israel and across the world via the Zwift virtual platform. The two events – the race and the group ride – will take place as many countries, including Israel, find themselves under severe restrictions to everyday life or complete lockdown.
Since the suspension of professional cycling due to the coronavirus outbreak, ISN has organized several virtual rides. The team is using the rides to secure much needed medical masks for health professionals and institutions. With the help of the team’s minority owner Dr Kevin Ham, the ISN “medical rides” have helped secure the donation of 12,500 KN 95 masks. The upcoming “Independence Day spectacle” is set to take the initiative even further.
ISN co-owner Sylvan Adams commented, “The Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team has been holding virtual competitions over the last several weeks as a way to stay in touch with our many fans around the globe, while competitions have been suspended due to the corona crisis. We are also trying to be good social citizens at the same time. For each participant in our virtual races, we donate one N95 mask to health professionals. To date, we have delivered thousands of masks to hospitals and old age residences in North America.”
Ron Baron, the team’s co-owner, has secured a special shipment of 5,000 KN95 masks to Israel, which will be distributed to hospitals and health workers in Israel, following the Independence Day rides. Although Israeli authorities have made it mandatory for citizens to use masks while outdoors, the KN95 medical masks are in high demand by medical teams across the world.
Wednesday’s Independence Day virtual race and group ride will also highlight the efforts of Israeli tech companies and start-ups in the fight against coronavirus. Start-Up Nation Central – an independent nonprofit organization with a mission of strengthening Israel’s tech industry – has recently showcased these initiatives via its new CoronaTech.org.il website. The site provides the most comprehensive source for technological solutions being developed in Israel to combat coronavirus.
Start-Up Nation Central is team Israel Start-Up Nation’s main sponsor. “We are very proud of our exceptional sponsor Start-Up Nation Central for establishing this important platform highlighting the Israeli search for treatments against this deadly disease” said Sylvan Adams.
Wednesday’s virtual race will begin at 11:30 pm in VIC/NSW/ACT/QLD, and can be viewed all over the world on the team’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Following the race, at 1 am VIC/NSW/ACT/QLD [Thursday] the Israel Start-Up Nation team will lead the group ride on the Zwift platform.
