Canadian rider Michael Woods enjoyed a banner year in 2021, posting a number of top-five finishes including at the Tokyo Olympics and becoming only the second Canadian to wear the polka-dot jersey as king of the mountains during the Tour de France.
Veteran Canadian Hugo Houle will ride for Israel Start-Up Nation next year.The 31-year-old from Sainte-Perpetue, Que., joins fellow Canadians Michael Woods, Alex Cataford, Guillaume Boivin and James . . .
Woods has ties to both Adams and team performance director Paulo Saldanha, also a Canadian.
Israel Start-Up Nation will not take part in the Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau (June 4, Switzerland), Dwars door het Hageland (June 5, Belgium), Elfstedenronde (June 6, Belgium), Baloise Belgium Tour (June 9-13) and Adriatica Ionica Race (June 14-18, Italy). Obviously, we would have liked to line up in these great races, for which the riders have trained hard to do well, team GM Kjell Carlstrom said in a statement. However, the health of our staff and riders, as well as safeguarding all other teams, will always come first. We don’t want to take any risk that may jeopardize anyone. In a situation like this, it’s better to be safe than sorry.