Israel Premier Tech has reached a contract agreement with Nick Schultz for the 2023 season. Schultz, a member of the BikeExchange-Jayco team for the past four years and previously with Spanish pro team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, was strongly rumored to be a potential signee for the 2023 B&B Hotels expansion, but that project broke off in late November.

Israel Premier Tech had declared its roster complete earlier this month with the acquisition of Stevie Williams, who was also slated to head to B&B Hotels.

"The roster was considered complete when we signed Stevie Williams in early December, but the team did not want to miss the opportunity to sign the 28-year-old Australian climber," a statement from the team said. [Nick] is a great climber and will support the GC and Classic leaders while also pursuing his own ambitions. I look forward to Nick continuing to grow as a rider and taking on an important role within the team."

Schulz has won two races in his career, a stage of the Herald Sun Tour in his hometown in 2019 and the Sazka Tour in the Czech Republic in 2021. He also has a respectable Grand Tour GC record, finishing 22nd in his Tour de France debut this summer and 25th in the Vuelta a few years ago.

Schultz was also a climbing support member of BikeExchange, which supported Simon Yates at the 2021 Giro d'Italia, but broke his hand just as Yates was beginning to regain his GC ambitions on the ultra-steep climb of Sega di Alla.

Apart from his reputation as a team worker, Schulz had to settle for second place behind Magnus Kort (EF Education-Easy Post) in Megève after a long breakaway, despite a possible stage win in the Tour this July.

Schulz's seven-year pro contract with Israel Premier Tech is similar to compatriot Simon Clark's last-minute deal with the team in 2022 after the collapse of Qhubeka-Assos in December 2021. Clark won the first week of the Tour de France's toughest cobbled stage, Wallers-Allenberg, this past July.

"I'm really grateful to IPT for offering me a contract at such a late date," Schulz said of the one-year deal.

"I'm very excited to join a great group of people, some of whom I'm familiar with. I want to play an important role in helping the team as much as I can and be ambitious to get results to repay the trust they have shown in me. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting together with everyone at the races and having a blast

Schulz will be joined by Williams, mid-season additions Dylan Theuns and Jens Reinders, and four other drivers, Matthew Riccitello, Derek Gee, Mason Holleyman and Dario Frigo. They are the seventh new face of Israel's Premier Tech in 2023, following Neo Pro. The team bids farewell to Alex Dowsett, Patrick Bevin, Matthias Brandl, Guy Niv, Yente Biermans, Rudy Barbier, Alessandro De Marchi, and Carl Hagen.

With 29 riders, the team has room for one more to reach the UCI's maximum of 30 riders.

Israel Premier Tech will compete as a professional team in the second division in 2023 after being demoted from the World Tour.