Israel Start-Up Nation

The team was launched in November 2014 by a team with the aim of developing young cyclists, especially from Israel.[1]

The team's first ever victory came in the fourth stage of the 2015 Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, which was won by Daniel Turek.[2]

On 2 July 2015, the Israeli Road Racing Champion Guy Sagiv joined its ranks.[3]

In 2018, the team participated in a Cycling monument event for the first time – 2018 Milan-San Remo, and in a Grand Tour event for the first time – 2018 Giro d'Italia. The Giro d’Italia opening stage took place in Jerusalem, May 4, 2018 – the first time in the Giro‘s 101 years of existence – that it has started outside of Europe. The Giro held its second and third stages in Israel before it continued to European soil. The Giro’s three stages raced in Israel attracted considerable interest by the Israeli public, with many thousands of Israelis lining up along the route and supporting the riders and especially the Israel Cycling Academy home team. It was considered a significant success. Israel Cycling Academy co-owner Sylvan Adams was the driving force behind the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel, having financed a significant part of the race budget. ICA's (Israel Cycling Academy) best performance in the Giro was recorded in the 18th stage, when its Spanish Rider Ruben Plaza finished in second place. 3 days later, when the Team completed the Giro in Rome, it was its Israeli Guy Sagiv who became the first-ever Israeli cyclist to finish a Grand tour.

In 2019, in their fifth season of existence, ICA enlarged its team roster to 30 riders and set up a racing program that has exceeded 250 racing days all around the globe.

The team was invited to take part in The Giro d’Italia In May 2019 and will make its first appearance in the Tour of California.

The team owners, Ron Baron and Sylvan Adams, have set the team goal as the participation in upcoming years in the world’s biggest races including the Tour de France, in order to continue inspiring and developing a new generation of Israeli Cyclists.

In January 2019 the team opened 3 cycling special youth programs in Israel and formed a youth cycling team in the Arab village of Shfaram. To further develop young Israeli cyclists, ICA operates a Development team with a select group of under-23 riders. They have also established a special partnership with one of the leading French amateur teams – Côte d’Armor – which enables its young development team riders to race in France and gain valuable experience overseas.

In October 2019, Israel Cycling Academy completed the takeover of UCI World Tour team Katusha-Alpecin, including its UCI WorldTour license. As a result, ICA was due to become a UCI World Tour team, pending UCI approval.[4]. The UCI approved the team's promotion to World Tour status in December of that year, and the team subsequently changed its name to Israel Start Up Nation, while the former name became the name of the team's Continental level development squad.[5]

As of 2 January 2020.[6][7]

Rider Date of birth  Matteo Badilatti (SUI) (1992-07-30) 30 July 1992  Rudy Barbier (FRA) (1992-12-18) 18 December 1992  Jenthe Biermans (BEL) (1995-10-30) 30 October 1995  Guillaume Boivin (CAN) (1989-05-25) 25 May 1989  Matthias Brändle (AUT) (1989-12-07) 7 December 1989  Alexander Cataford (CAN) (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993  Davide Cimolai (ITA) (1989-08-13) 13 August 1989  Alex Dowsett (GBR) (1988-10-03) 3 October 1988  Itamar Einhorn (ISR) (1997-09-20) 20 September 1997  Omer Goldstein (ISR) (1996-08-13) 13 August 1996  André Greipel (GER) (1982-07-16) 16 July 1982  Ben Hermans (BEL) (1986-06-08) 8 June 1986  Hugo Hofstetter (FRA) (1994-02-13) 13 February 1994  Reto Hollenstein (SUI) (1985-08-22) 22 August 1985  Dan Martin (IRL) (1986-08-20) 20 August 1986

Rider Date of birth  Travis McCabe (USA) (1989-05-12) 12 May 1989  Daniel Navarro (ESP) (1983-07-18) 18 July 1983  Krists Neilands (LAT) (1994-08-18) 18 August 1994  Guy Niv (ISR) (1994-03-08) 8 March 1994  James Piccoli (CAN) (1991-09-05) 5 September 1991  Nils Politt (GER) (1994-03-06) 6 March 1994  Mihkel Räim (EST) (1993-07-03) 3 July 1993  Alexis Renard (FRA) (1999-06-01) 1 June 1999  Guy Sagiv (ISR) (1994-12-05) 5 December 1994  Patrick Schelling (SUI) (1990-05-01) 1 May 1990  Rory Sutherland (AUS) (1982-02-08) 8 February 1982  Norman Vahtra (EST) (1996-11-23) 23 November 1996  Tom Van Asbroeck (BEL) (1990-04-19) 19 April 1990  Mads Würtz Schmidt (DEN) (1994-03-31) 31 March 1994  Rick Zabel (GER) (1993-12-07) 7 December 1993

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