Private security, police escort … The Israel-Prime Tech team under close surveillance on the Tour de France

The Israeli team is participating in the Grande Boucle for the fifth year in a row with high security constraints.

This is undoubtedly the most scrutinized team of this 2025 Tour de France. However, Lsrael -Prime Tech is aligning – a priori – no runner capable of winning the big loop. Funded by Sylvan Adams, a Isralo-Canadian billionaire close to Benyamin Netanyahu, Israeli training is constantly followed by close police protection, since the departure of the 112nd edition. Measures necessary for the light of the current geopolitical context.

“There is always a special device on the Israel Premier Tech team”had recognized Christian Prudhomme, before the start of the race, without saying more. A device that jumped out before kicking this big loop, with the impressive police escorts who accompanied the team's bus to the Lille region, which is a unique case in the peloton. Like the police brigade stationed in front of the hotels that house the 8 team runners, who has no Israeli in its ranks.

“We are under permanent escort, but we don't think about it too much, we are there to race. We see them but we especially try to focus on our race and what we have to do. We are a cycling runner, that's our job”evacuated Matîs Louvel, runner of Israel-Prime Tech, at the presentation of runners in Lille, Thursday July 3. A few meters from French were held several in civilian clothes, weapons on the belt, melted in the midst of journalists and guests of this large loop.

Not frankly the kind of images that we are used to seeing on the Tour de France, where even the biggest stars can be approached by the public and onlookers, whether by the road, but also to departures and arrivals, in the parking lots of the teams. It is in these areas that the buses of the 23 teams park, One behind the others, depending on the order of arrival, and at the foot of which the journalists and curious, who wish to approach the champions.

The Israel-Prime Tech bus, it is often in mind or a procession. For the time being, it is only at the start of Valenciennes that he was placed in the middle of a procession, while keeping a reasonable distance from his neighbors.“It's special, we prefer not to have them next to us … “discreetly recognized a member of another team. “The worst part is to share the hotel with them, because it increases the context “added another, pointing the discomfort to share a common space with a team such as high surveillance.

In addition to private security agents and mobile police escorts, 8 police officers surround the perimeter around the Israeli team every day, weapons on the fist. Since last year, on the authorities' recommendations, the team has also taken care to erase the mentions in Israel on their bus and other vehicles, the full name of the training appears only on the outfits of the runners.

Preventive measures, which also aim to prevent demonstrators, defenders of the Palestinian cause, from approaching the team. In May, during the 6th stage of the Giro, two demonstrators had tried to interrupt the race. For the time being, no event of this type has been observed on the road to the Tour de France.