One of the stars of this spring - Stephen Williams has unsurprisingly opted to renew with the team where he has achieved his career's greatest successes - Israel - Premier Tech. Williams will stay with the formation for at least another four years.
Before joining the Israeli team, the Welshman spent large part of his career with Bahrain - Victorious where he was unable to fulfill his potential mainly due to lingering injuries. However 2024 was different. The 28-year-old kicked off the season with an overall victory at Tour Down Under, but the real highlight came at La Fleche Wallonne, where he surprised everyone with a powerful early attack to win the popular classic.
"I feel like I have found my place on a team where I can get the best out of myself on the bike," says Williams in a press release. "As we have seen with the way I have been racing, especially from last year’s Giro d’Italia onwards, I’ve taken a real step up. It has been rewarded with some nice results and even though I am fairly new on the team, it feels like I have been here for ten years not one year."
"I'm 28 years old now and the next four years are probably in that window when I become my best and keep improving, so to have this offer from the team gave me huge confidence and I didn’t hesitate to extend with IPT. I am so happy in the team, and I see the way I have stepped up in just one year here so I can’t wait for the next four."
"A couple of years ago, we kind of saved Stevie’s career, or at the very least, a year of his career, when we signed him at the last minute, together with his teammate, Nick Schultz, following the folded BnB Hotels team debacle," team owner Sylvan Adams explains. "Stevie immediately showed us that he is a talented rider, and we have now renewed his contract for the second time. Stevie is a winner, an instinctive rider who understands bike racing. His big wins this year have elevated our team."
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
Loading
Announcing four more years of @stevierhys_96 🙌🏻 The Welsh wonder - and this year’s @tourdownunder and @flechewallonne winner - will ride for Israel - Premier Tech through to the end of 2028! Full story 👉 israelpremiertech.com/stevie-william… #YallaIPT
Write a comment