Israeli’s emotional debut win a year after October 7
“To win on October 6, exactly one year after Black Saturday ... I don’t think I could ever experience a more emotional and powerful moment in my life,”says Oded Kogut.
Reigning Israeli men’s road cycling national champion Oded Kogut achieved a major milestone not only for himself, but for his team Israel Premier Tech (IPT) and his country last Sunday in Zagreb, when crossing the finish line first in the sixth and final stage of the 2024 CRO Race.
The 23-year-old, still in his first international professional season, earned his first victory at that top level and also IPT’s 150th win of a tour stage or one-day race since the team was established in 2015.
Of the team’s wins, 24 were by its Israeli cyclists – a sign of the successful, continuous development pathway that IPT and Israel Cycling Academy, is providing.
IPT’s international riders have won all seven of the team’s Grand Tour stage wins so far, including Canadian Mike Woods’ stage 13 win seven weeks ago in the Vuelta a Espana.
Kogut’s triumph in Zagreb was extra special due to the circumstances.
It came just hours before the clock marked 365 days since Hamas’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel, which resulted in the murder of 1200 people and the taking of more than 250 hostages.
“To win on October 6, exactly one year after Black Saturday and to do it while wearing the Israeli champion’s jersey, with the yellow ribbon of the hostages on my back – I don’t think I could ever experience a more emotional and powerful moment in my life,” Kogut said.

“Above all, it is important to me that I had the opportunity to show the world the yellow ribbon and the need to bring our hostages in Gaza all back home as soon as possible.”
After missing out on victory by a margin of only centimetres the day before in stage five of the CRO Race, Kogut was even hungrier for success and had told his teammates that he felt his first victory “is closer than ever” – and it turned out to be.
The Haifa native executed his plan for the 157km stage perfectly, staying close to the previous stage winner, Norwegian rider for team Uno-X Mobility, Alexander Kristoff, all the way, before sprinting ahead in the final stretch, raising his arms in triumph at the finish line.
Meanwhile, back in Israel on October 5, hundreds of cyclists began a ride of tribute along highway 232 towards Kibbutz Be’eri, organised by IPT and the Israel Cycling Federation, followed by a memorial service for the 11 cyclists that were murdered on October 7, 2023, along that same stretch of road, during a training ride.
One cyclist, Ofer Kalderon, was taken hostage and remains a captive in Gaza.
Avida Bechar, a cyclist from Be’eri who had his right leg amputated and who lost his wife and his son in the October 7 attacks, led the memorial ride and was moved to tears by Kogut’s victory in Zagreb.
Concluding the memorial service, IPT owner Sylvan Adams, said he felt “deeply inspired” riding alongside Bechar and relatives and friends of other cyclists who were killed on October 7, emphasising their determination to persevere.
comments