After joining the Roland Cogeas team after the start of the 2022 season, Israel-Premier Tech has agreed to become the new title sponsor of the team. Their name from 2023 will be Israel-Premier Tech Roland, a move that has been confirmed by team owner Ruben Contreras. This collaboration will see the team receive more financial resources and also create a new development team.
Originally known as Cogeas Mettler, the team has just finished its maiden year in the Women’s WorldTour. They are 18th in the UCI rankings and ranked 12th of the 14 WWT teams this season. The outfit has announced its complete roster for the 2023 season as well over the last few weeks, which sees the majority of the team refreshed. The roster of the development team is still ongoing but there are some clues about who will be racing for them. Contreras said: “It is important to help riders from countries where there are war problems. We will be taking riders from Ukraine, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Israel, and I’ve been looking for a Palestinian rider. With our project, we want to help these riders. It is very important to us.”
One big name missing from the 2023 Israel-Premier Tech Roland roster is Petra Stiasny who impressed with 5th on the queen stage at the Tour de Romandie. Uzbek Olga Zabelinskaya is another big name missing from the future roster.
2023 Israel-Premier Tech Roland Roster
- Caroline Baur
- Hannah Buch
- Tamara Dronova
- Nathalie Eklund
- Silvia Magri
- Sofia Collinelli
- Mia Griffin
- Lara Vieceli
- Thị Thật Nguyễn
- Fien Delbaere
- Claire Steels
- Elena Pirrone
Tamara Dronova was the stand-out rider of the team in 2022 with top-10s in the Tour de France Femmes and Gent Wevelgem and will remain. The team has been boosted by signing a number of young riders with talent that maybe haven’t quite been able to show their full potential yet. The signing of Lara Vieceli gives the team an experienced road captain and the return of Thị Thật Nguyễn to the women’s peloton is overdue. She’s one of the few riders to be able to say that they have beaten Lorena Wiebes in a head-to-head sprint.
