Mia Griffin's new World Tour team, called Roland Cogeas Edelweiss Squad, will race under the name and title sponsorship of Israel Premier Tech in 2023. The name change - to Israel Premier Tech Roland - follows a new arrangement between the women's team and the men's World Tour squad Israel Premier Tech.
It is now expected the men's team - and the management figures and sponsors behind it - will become more involved in the Swiss-registered women's team in the years ahead. Roland, a Swiss foods company, has stayed involved with the team, hence its name remaining in the title sponsorship.
The involvement of Israel Premier-Tech is not new as news of it emerged at the start of this year. However, while Israel Premier Tech became financial partners of the women's team, its ownership structure, name and title sponsors did not change in 2022.
Advertisement
Now moving into 2023, the relationship has edged on, with Israel Premier-Tech moving into a lead sponsorship role, with the squad's name changed to reflect that development. The team's ownership arrangements, for now, have not changed with its manager, Ruben Contreras, confirming he still owns the squad.
Related News
However, he has developed a relationship - including financial - with the president and chief executive of Canadian company Premier Tech, Jean Bélanger, and with Israel-Premier Tech partner, Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams. The team started as a Continental outfit, Cogeas-Mettler, registered in Russia but has been Swiss-registered since last year.
The new relationship between Contreras, a Swiss national, and Adams and Bélanger - and the financial muscle it brings - has also resulted in plans for an Israel Premier Tech Roland Development team, which will undertake its first season next year.
"We are very happy because we would like to give one new touch to our business and teams," said Contreras of the new development team. "It's important to help riders from countries that have problems with war. We will take riders from Ukraine, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Israel, and I've searched for one rider from Palestine. And with our foundation, we would like to help these riders. It's very important to us."
Griffin - who is part of Ireland's track pursuit squad aiming to qualify for the Paris OIympics - recently said she was very excited to move up to World Tour level next year, especially with a team that rode Tour de France Femmes this year.
“With regards to my role, I think that next year for a lot of the races I will be a teammate and be used to work for the team,” she told stickybottle. “And if my chance comes then I’ll take it. The aim is to just to learn as much as I can with this team, because it is a huge opportunity to race big races and race against the world’s best. So I am very excited to join the team."
