Israel's cylcling team Start-Up Nation is the first in the world to return to training for the Tour de France race that begins August 29th. This is Israel's first professional cycling team and the first time an Israeli team has raced in the Tour de France.
"This is a a testament to the forward-looking and astute Israeli management of this pandemic and our nation's relatively low number of cases," said the team's co-owner Sylvan Adams.
Today, the team's second day of training, the riders ascended Mount Hermon, Israel's highest mountain peak. The Start-Up Nation's training base is in Beit Hillel, a moshav east of Kiryat Shemona near the Lebanese border.
Team manager Aviad Izrael said, "I have never seen this kind of motivation in training before. The riders are just ecstatic. I guess that's what happens after two months of corona lockdown."