Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, the reigning Giro D’Italia champion, won the first stage of the famed cycling competition in Jerusalem Friday, Agence France-Presse reported. It is the first time that one of cycling’s Grand Tour events has taken place outside of Europe.

Teams from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, neither of which has diplomatic ties with Israel, are competing.

Dumoulin beat Australian Rohan Dennis by just two seconds. Chris Froome, who is seeking to become the first cyclist to win three straight Grand Tour titles, finished well behind, 37 seconds behind Dumoulin. Last year Froome won the other two races in the tour, the  Tour de France title in July and the Vuelta a Espana.

Bringing the Giro D’Italia to Israel was the project of Sylvan Adams, a Canadian-born real estate multi-millionaire.

When Adams, who is the Romanian-born son of Holocaust survivors, moved to Israel in 2016, he also brought his interest in cycling with him. Adams took up cycling in his 30s.

In bringing the Giro D’Italia to Israel, he hopes to spark interest in cycling in Israel, as well as to showcase the country to the world.

“As many as a billion viewers will see the country on display, the full country,” Adams told CNN. “Cycling takes place outdoors, and for three days, the cameras will be on us for 16 hours showing the country from north to south.”

Adams is also financing the construction of a velodrome, an arena for cycling races, in Tel Aviv. Because it will be the only velodrome in the Middle East, Adams sees it as a way to reach out to Israel’s neighbors, “Being the only velodrome in the Middle East, if our neighbors want to develop track riders, they’re welcome to come here and ride with us and develop the sport and eventually maybe we could host some Middle Eastern championships when the sport is developed in all of the countries.”
[Photo: FloBikes / YouTube ]