The Tour de Israel is a four-day cycling competition held in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and modeled on the Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

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The race is held over a 622 kilometres (386.5 mi) route beginning in Nahariya

Nahariya

Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...

 in northern Israel, and ending in the resort city of Eilat on the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

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The event is sponsored by the Israeli Tourism Ministry

Tourism Minister of Israel

The Tourism Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet. The position is currently held by Stas Misezhnikov of Yisrael Beiteinu....

 and is a two-person team competition, featuring nine separate categories based on gender and age: Men; Women; Mixed Gender; Adults, Masters and Grand Masters.

2010 Event

The first Tour de Israel was held on 7–11 March, 2010. 124 cyclists, including 44 foreign cyclists, participated.

The route passed along the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 shore, through the Galilee

Galilee

Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...

 mountains, Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...

, the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...

, Beit She'an and Nazareth

Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...

 and then along the Jordan Rift Valley

Jordan Rift Valley

The Jordan Rift Valley is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. This geographic region includes the Jordan River, Jordan Valley, Hula Valley, Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on Earth...

 and the Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

, past Masada

Masada

Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...

 to the Negev

Negev

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...

 mountains to the finish line in Eilat.

Niv Libner

Niv Libner

Niv LibnerBorn Tel-Aviv on 1 Nov 1987, Started to ride at the age of 11. In 2005 won the National Road Race Championship for Juniors and in 2010 the National Elite Championship...

 and Ran Margaliot, two Israelis competing as the GO-PRO team, were the winners with an overall time of 19:09:09.45 hours. Second place went to Zachi Boigen and Anton Michaelov, and international triathlon

Triathlon

A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

 champions Dan and Ran Alterman

Ran Alterman

Ran Alterman is an Israeli triathlete who - in association with his identical twin brother Dan - dominates the arena of Israeli triathlons. He competes on the international level since 2001.-Career highlights:* Israeli Champion 2002...

came in third.

2011 Event

An on-road and an off-road event were originally scheduled to take place in March 2011. The events were cancelled by the orgainzer due to insufficient participants and sponsors.