Following the European U23 road championships in Estonia, Israel's Cycling Academy team are heading to Denver, Colorado, for the seven-day USA Pro Challenge.
The hotly contested events in Tartu resulted in a number of bunch crashes, mechanical problems and sheer exhaustion that reduced the field by almost a third in several events.
With an average speed of 45kph for the 161.2km men's road race, Guy Gabay was the sole Israeli survivor in 3hrs.44. 21, 7min 32sec down on the winner.
Riding for his home country,
Academy rider Lubos Malovec of
Slovakia crashed badly, injuring his hand and forcing his retirement.
After a lone early breakaway, Dan Turk was the only other Academy rider to finish, but loose handle bars caused physical problems and severe back pain forced him in 100th place.
Itamar Einhorn finished 37th in the peloton of the junior men's 124km event in 2hrs.50.36, just 17 secs behind the seven-rider bunch sprint.
Newly signed professional Israeli Road Champion Guy Sagiv replaces injured Malovec in the Academy team heading for its toughest challenge at the event in Colorado.
Sixteen teams will contest the USA Pro Challenge, including four World Tour teams and eight Continental squads, one of which is the Cycling Academy Team.
For these young Israelis, the invitation to race against some of the world's top professional teams come as a reward for a remarkably successful inaugural year during which they have won 13 races across Europe and Israel.
"It'll certainly be our toughest test to date, but we aim to make our
mark, " said team manager and former Saxo-Bank rider Ran Margaliot.
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