Shani Bloch, also known as Shani Bloch-Davidov ( he, שני בלוך; born 6 March 1979) is an Israeli racing cyclist. Bloch is the first Israeli road cyclist to compete in the

Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale Various professional women's cycle stage races across France have been held as an equivalent to the Tour de France for women, with the first of these races staged as a one off in 1955. From 1984, a women's Tour de France was staged consistently, ...

, Giro d'Italia Femminile, and

Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

, and the first Israeli road cyclist to compete in the Olympic Games since 1960. After taking off a decade to raise a family, at the age of 37 she represented

Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel confirmed a team of 47 athletes, 22 men and 25 wom ...

in the 141 kilometer (87.6 mile) Women's Road Race in Rio de Janeiro.

Personal life

Bloch is from Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa District in Israel. She served as a combat fitness instructor for Sayeret Matkal in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. She then studied and obtained a B.A. at the Wingate Institute. Bloch and her husband, project manager and university professor Shai Davidov, have three daughters, Noga and twins Rotem and Amit.

Bicycle racing career

Early years

Bloch is the first Israeli road cyclist to compete in the

, Giro d'Italia Femminile, and UCI Road World Championships, and the first Israeli road cyclist to compete in the Olympic Games since 1960. She is a four-time Israeli Road Champion. Bloch began riding with the Israeli Megiddo Regional Council team, with Yair Ben-Ami as her trainer. Her coaches in 2016 were Zahi Boignon and Ilan Ulman. She was the Israeli cross-country high school champion in 1994–96. She placed high in the under-23 category of the 2000 Giro d'Italia Femminile

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

in Italy, and competed in it again in 2001 and 2003. In 2002, she came in 63rd in the 128k World Championships Women's Road Race in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

- Zolder, Belgium. That same year, Bloch finished in 18th place (3rd place in the under-25s) in the

(the women's Tour de France), riding for the Italian team Michela Fanini. She was the first Israeli woman to ride in the competition. In 2003, she came in 39th in the 124k World Championships Women's Road Race in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Canada. The following year she rode with the team Equipe Cycliste Rona.

Comeback

Bloch retired in 2004 to start a family. She competed in the

2013 Maccabiah Games The 19th Maccabiah ( he, המכביה התשע-עשרה) were held during July 18 to 30, 2013. The Games brought together 7,500 competing athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and ...

, winning a silver medal in the women's triathlon. She began competing again in cycling in 2014, after suddenly feeling a desire to return to the competition and adrenaline that attends cycling. In 2014, she won silver medals in both the Israel National Championships Women's Road Race and in the Israel National Championships Time Trials, both behind Israeli

Paz Bash Paz Bash (born 28 June 1983) is an Israeli racing cyclist. She competed in the 2013 UCI women's road race in Florence. Major results Source: ;2011 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;2012 : 1st Time trial, National Road Championsh ...

. She rode at the

2014 UCI Road World Championships The 2014 UCI Road World Championships took place in Ponferrada, Spain, from 21 to 28 September 2014. The cycling championships consisted of 12 events for elite, under-23 and junior cyclists. It was the 81st UCI Road World Championships and the s ...

, in and around Ponferrada, Spain. She did not finish, along with dozens of other riders who fell victim to a series of crashes, including a mass crash. In March 2016 Bloch won the Masada- Arad race in 52:01, came in second in the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

Scorpion Pass Route 227 ( he, כביש 227, ''Kvish 227'') is a road in the eastern Negev desert of Israel. It starts from an intersection with Route 206 in the northwest and ends in Ir Ovot in the southeast, intersecting with Highway 90. It has one at-grade ...

race, eight seconds behind the 2:30:05 winning time of Antri Christoforou of Cyprus, and came in third in the Arad-

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

-Arad race, behind Christoforou and Bash. In April 2016 she won the Crit on The Campus

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

around

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

Stirling, Scotland Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, ...

, ahead of

Charline Joiner Charline Jones (née Joiner; born 18 April 1988) is a Scottish former racing cyclist from Dunfermline, who won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in the team sprint. Personal life In 2018, she married Glasgow Warriors and Scotland r ...

of Scotland. In June 2016 she finished second at the Scottish Road Race Championship (behind British National Circuit Race Champion

Eileen Roe Eileen Roe (born 24 September 1989) is a Scottish racing cyclist, who most recently rode professionally for UCI Women's Team . Roe was the winner of the 2014 and 2016 British National Circuit Race Championships. Biography Born in Dunfermline, ...

of Scotland), second at the Israeli Championships Women's Time Trial, and fourth at the Israeli Championships Women's Road Race. In the summer of 2016, she was ranked 88th in the world in the '' Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI) world rankings, which qualified her to compete in the 2016 Olympics. Bloch represented

in the Women's Road Race in Rio de Janeiro, two years after returning to competition. At the age of 37, she was the oldest member among the 47 athletes on Team Israel. She finished the 141 kilometer (87.6 mile) road race in a time of 4:02.59, in 48th place among 68 riders. She was the first Israeli of either gender to compete as a cyclist at the Olympic Games since

Henry Ohayon Henry Ohayon ( he, הנרי אוחיון; 17 June 1934 – 27 October 2023) was an Israeli cycle sport, cyclist of Moroccan Jews, Moroccan Jewish descent. He competed in the Cycling at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's individual road race, ind ...

and

Itzhak Ben David Itzhak Ben David (1931 – 1 June 2007) was an Israeli cyclist. He competed in the individual road race at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XV ...

in 1960 in Rome.

References

External links

*
Shani Bloch
at Eurosport {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Shani 1979 births Living people Israeli female cyclists Israeli female triathletes Place of birth missing (living people) Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Israel People from Kiryat Bialik Maccabiah Games silver medalists for Israel Competitors at the 2013 Maccabiah Games