The ongoing conflict in Israel has affected many and although the current Israeli national champion Itamar Einhorn has been racing in China at the Tour of Guangxi, his mind is back home.
"I have mixed feelings. I try to race as best I can. When the pace is high, my focus is on the race. But the past 2 days it was easy in the peloton, then my thoughts went to the situation. It was It is difficult to have the focus again in the end. I am certainly not at my best here," the Israel - Premier Tech rider told Sporza prior to stage 3, which he would actually DNF. "My family is okay. I am concerned about the situation in Israel and also worldwide. We also saw some attacks in Europe. If it continues like this, no one will be safe."
"It is a crazy situation, I want to go home," Einhorn continues. Despite the fact he would go on to ultimately abandon Einhorn was also clear that whilst he is racing in China, the 26-year-old wanted to show off the Israeli national jersey with pride. "I want to show that in the peloton and make it clear to everyone that we want peace."
Given the name of the team, the entire squad of Israel - Premier Tech is finding it difficult due to the struggles in the team's home nation. "We mainly came here for Itamar, but he doesn't feel 100 percent mentally because of what is happening," explains Jens Reynders. "We try to do our best, but it is not easy for everyone. These are hard days for the team and for everyone. We try to focus on the match, because that is important. But you can feel from our Israeli riders that something is wrong. A lot of them are also at the end of their contracts and this situation is on top of it."
Today is one of IPT’s final race days of the season but it’s a busy one with three teams racing in China, Japan, and Italy. One thing in particular unites the three teams and that’s a black armband worn by all riders, a symbol of solidarity with the innocent victims whose lives…
