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Rabat – Moroccan-Swiss cyclist El Mehdi Chokri has joined the Israel Cycling Academy (ICA) and is set to compete in the Union Cycliste International (UCI) WorldTour.
ICA announced the news on its Facebook page on February 6, saying that Elmehdi is the first Arab Muslim rider to join its ranks.
The academy also announced that the newcomer will make his UCI debut at the Youngster Coast Challenge in Belgium on March 20.
“We are proud to have Chokri with us. Our doors are open to all,” said team co-owner Ron Baron.
Meanwhile, Chokri said he joined ICA in order to participate in the WorldTour team.
“I joined ICA to be a professional cyclist,” Chokri said. “I am looking to the future and the WorldTour team.”
The 23-year-old cyclist has already had a successful career. He is Morocco’s current time trial champion, 2nd place in the GC in the Coupe des Nations de l’Espoir Blue Line in 2018 as well as in the Tour de Cote d’Ivoire-Tour de la Reconciliation 2016.
Chokri trained the UCI’s World Cycling Centre from 2014 to 2016 and competed with the Continental-ranked Dimension Data for the Qhubeka team from 2017 to 2019.
At the ICA, Chokri will compete alongside 16 riders of different nationalities. While half of the riders are Israelis, the other half are from Canada (3 riders), Eritrea, Australia, Colombia, and the Czech Republic.
