Moroccan cyclist El Mehdi Chokri resigns from Israel Start-Up Nation and joins AC Bisontine

Moroccan cyclist El Mehdi Chokri is not the «first Arab and Muslim cyclist» to join Israel Start-Up Nation, a team launched in November 2014 with the aim of developing young cyclists, especially from Israel.

According to Be-celt, Chokri will join AC Bisontine, in France, after he resigned from the Israeli team. The decision was taken after he announced earlier in 2020 that he had joined the Israel Cycling Academy, known currently as Israel Start-Up Nation.

«Due to personal reasons, the young Moroccan preferred to resign and stay close to Switzerland by joining AC Bisontine», the same source said.

The Israel Start-Up Nation cycling team announced on February 6 that El Mehdi Chokri became the «first Arab-Muslim cyclist» to join the team.

Chokri, 23, worked at the World Cycling Center in Switzerland from 2014 to 2016. He was part of the Dimension Data for the Qhubeka team from 2017 to 2019.