Israeli Philanthropist Wins Road Cycling World Championship
Israel-Premier Tech Cycling Team owner Sylvan Adams, 64, takes first place in Masters age category.
By Abigail Klein Leichman, ISRAEL21c
Israel-Premier Tech Cycling Team owner Sylvan Adams, 64, was crowned the Medio Fondo road-cycling world champion in the Masters category following an 87-kilometer race in Perth, Scotland on August 4.
For most of the ride, Adams was neck-and-neck with Arnaldo Salazar from Venezuela. In the final sprint Adams pulled ahead and crossed the finish line alone.
Three days later, on August 7, Adams claimed another rainbow jersey in the time trial, winning by more than one minute on the 22-kilometer course.
“I’m extremely proud of having won the time trial. This discipline is known as the race of truth because there are no tactics like in a road race,” he said. “The strongest racer almost always wins. For me, after winning the road race here last week, I’ve done something quite rare in the sport: completing the double championship at Worlds.”
Adams, a billionaire philanthropist who has brought many international sports and entertainment events to Israel including the 2018 Big Start of the Giro d’Italia bike race, has funded facilities including the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute at Tel Aviv University (which houses the Middle East’s first Olympic-sized velodrome), the Sylvan Adams Sports Center at the Jerusalem International YMCA, and the Sylvan Adams Children’s Hospital affiliated with Save a Child’s Heart, based at Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center.
Before immigrating to Israel from Canada in 2015, Adams achieved World Championship cycling glory twice on the track in velodromes while representing Canada in 2013 and 2015.
However, this latest triumph holds a special significance as it marks his first such victory as an Israeli cyclist.
“I’m very happy my hard training paid off, and proud to have won this world title for Israel,” said Adams. “My eyes were moist as they played our national anthem, Hatikva, to which I emotionally sang along.”
Adams said that the double Medio Fondo victory in Scotland “means that I’ve achieved every possible goal that I could have aspired to win in the sport, adding to my two World Championship titles in the velodrome. But, loving the sport as I do, I’m already planning to defend my titles in Denmark in 2024. After, of course, doing the 2023 World Masters Track Championships in Manchester this October.”
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