NSN Cycling Team walked into the Barcelona teams presentation on Thursday to applause, a contrast to the protests that followed the squad around the 2025 Tour. The Swiss-licensed successor to Israel-Premier Tech was greeted like every other outfit at the Fòrum, a clear change from the atmosphere of last year’s presentation in Lille, when plainclothes officers flanked the team bus.
Saturday marks the debut Tour de France outing for the team, and NSN lines up an eight-rider squad around Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay for a Grand Départ staged in Barcelona, the home city of Never Say Never co-founder Andrés Iniesta. The transformation rests on Swiss registration, a Barcelona operational base and an investor group led by the former Spain midfielder.
The Calm at the Fòrum
Like every other team at the grand départ on Thursday afternoon, NSN was welcomed at the Barcelona Fòrum without incident. The riders took the stage in the new teal-and-orange kit and waved to a crowd that came to celebrate the Grand Départ. “It’s special for everyone because it’s Barcelona and because we’re all involved in this wonderful project,” Iniesta told the press conference on Wednesday.
When the team still raced as Israel-Premier Tech, riders were escorted by plainclothes officers at the team presentation in Lille and given extra security on the Tour with police officers guarding the team bus. A protester wearing a t-shirt reading “Israel out of the Tour” disrupted the sprint finish of the 11th stage. Premier Tech, the team’s Canadian co-title sponsor, called for the rebrand later in 2025 after mass pro-Palestinian protests at the Vuelta a España, including stage five’s road blockades in Catalonia, disrupted stages and forced the squad’s name off its jerseys. The blockades of August 2025 led to the team dropping its Israeli identity. NSN’s first Tour since those events begins on Saturday morning.
From Blockades to a Swiss Plate
In November 2025, more than a decade after the squad was launched as the Israel Cycling Academy, the team announced its rebrand to NSN Cycling Team. The squad dropped its Israeli identity, swapped its Factor bikes for Scott and moved its registration to Switzerland, with operational bases in Girona and Barcelona. Never Say Never, co-founded by Iniesta and Joel Borràs, took over as principal, and the Swiss investment platform Stoneweg joined as a partner. The moves gave NSN a World Tour licence for the 2026-2028 cycle.
Barcelona has welcomed the team as a local project. Mayor Jaume Collboni chaired the team’s official presentation alongside Councillor for Sport David Escudé, with the city calling it “excellent news that the NSN Cycling Team is starting to pedal and doing so by choosing Barcelona as a base.” Collboni framed the Tour’s Grand Départ as Barcelona’s biggest week on the cycling calendar, framing the moment as the city’s own welcome for NSN noted it.
We’ve changed our owners and our management and our sponsors, but nothing’s changed in the sense of just focusing on performance.
Sam Bewley, NSN’s head sports director, told reporters in Barcelona on Wednesday that the team’s ethos has not shifted. “I don’t think anybody enjoyed the disruptions we had last year, but I’ve always just been focused on trying to get the best out of our athletes, and this remains the same this year,” Bewley said.
A Roster Built Around Girmay
Biniam Girmay is the centerpiece of NSN’s Tour, and the numbers he carries into Saturday are the team’s clearest sporting asset. Girmay won three stages and the green jersey at the 2024 Tour while racing for Intermarche-Wanty, becoming the first African rider to win the points classification at the Tour. His three wins earlier in 2026, including a stage at the Baloise Belgium Tour, are his best first-six-month return since 2022.
NSN’s Tour squad:
- Lewis Askey, British sprinter
- George Bennett, New Zealand road champion in his sixth Tour
- Marco Frigo, Italian debutant from Bassano del Grappa
- Biniam Girmay, Eritrean sprinter and 2024 green jersey winner
- Matîs Louvel, French lead-out rider
- Krists Neilands, Latvian veteran in his sixth Tour
- Jake Stewart, British lead-out rider
- Tom Van Asbroeck, Belgian veteran returning after a six-year absence
NSN has built its lead-out around Girmay for the sprints, with Stewart, Askey, Louvel and Van Asbroeck in the support group. Bennett and Neilands are each starting their sixth Tour, while Frigo is the lone debutant, per the team’s eight-rider Tour roster announcement. “We’ve got a good group of riders for the race, focused predominantly around Bini and the sprints,” Bewley said. Van Asbroeck is back at the Tour after a six-year absence. Frigo has previously contested stages at the Giro and Vuelta, and is the rider management has identified for breakaway opportunism.
The First Weekend in Barcelona
The Tour opens with a 19.6-kilometer team time trial at the Barcelona Fòrum on Saturday, a course that favours the bigger, more powerful outfits over a sprint-led group like NSN’s. Bewley said he wished the race had opened with a bunch sprint instead. Two stages likely to shape the general classification follow before the race leaves Spain, with mountain terrain waiting in the Pyrenees. The team’s first test under its new Swiss licence is a discipline where it has the smallest margin.
NSN’s Tour timing:
- Three weeks from Saturday 4 July to Sunday 26 July
- Stage one: 19.6-kilometer team time trial at the Barcelona Fòrum
- Stages two and three: two Catalan and Pyrenean days before the race enters France
Girmay has marked Pau, in southern France, as his first real shot at a sprint. Bewley said the team wants to keep “NSN in the race across as much of the three weeks as possible.” The opening Pyrenean stages will likely shape the GC, but they’re also where Frigo has the best chance to slip into a breakaway.
Girmay said the squad’s work since the start of the year had built the trust he needs going into a Tour that begins in his team’s home city. “I’m going into this year’s race full of confidence and with a real sense of anticipation for the first sprint opportunities,” Girmay said. Frigo has done everything he can to be ready for his first Tour, having targeted stage opportunities since the spring. “I am super happy with my level right now,” the 26-year-old from Bassano del Grappa said. The targeting of stage wins and a possible repeat green jersey defence is the sporting goal that has survived the rebrand intact.
What the Catalan Project Has to Win
The rebrand bought NSN a quiet first weekend, but the bar for the season’s verdict will be set by what the team shows on the road between Barcelona and Paris. Iniesta told reporters on Wednesday that a stage win or a second green jersey for Girmay is the team’s bar for the debut season, and his framing has become the internal yardstick the squad measures itself by. The investors who stepped in to replace Premier Tech have put a three-year World Tour licence on the table, running 2026 through 2028. Stewart, Louvel, Askey and Van Asbroeck are the riders staff say will decide whether the project ends with a stage win or a supporting-role ride.
What we’re really hoping for is to celebrate a stage win together. That would be something very special. Or, of course, seeing Bini (Girmay) win the green jersey.
NSN’s presentation on Thursday drew no boycotters, no security lines and no headlines about protest routes, a sharp change from the August blockades at the Vuelta a España that triggered the chain of events leading here. Inside the team bus, the focus has already shifted to where the protests used to live: stage five in Pau, and the first sprint Girmay has marked on his calendar. Iniesta, the team’s co-owner and a 2010 World Cup winner with Spain, addressed the press conference on Wednesday with the squad preparing to race in his home city.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Israel-Premier Tech become NSN Cycling Team?
The team announced its rebrand from Israel-Premier Tech to NSN Cycling Team in November 2025, ahead of its debut under Swiss registration for the 2026 cycling season.
Why did the team rebrand?
Premier Tech, the team’s Canadian co-title sponsor, called for the name change after mass pro-Palestinian protests disrupted the 2025 Vuelta a España and forced the squad’s name off its jerseys for the remainder of the race.
Who owns NSN Cycling Team?
The team’s principal is Never Say Never, co-founded by former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andrés Iniesta and Joel Borràs, with the Swiss investment platform Stoneweg joining as a partner. The deal gives NSN a World Tour licence through 2028.
Who leads NSN at the 2026 Tour de France?
Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay, who won three stages and the green jersey at the 2024 Tour while racing for Intermarche-Wanty, leads NSN’s eight-rider roster at the 2026 Tour.
When does the 2026 Tour de France start?
The Tour begins with a 19.6-kilometer team time trial at the Barcelona Fòrum on Saturday 4 July, and finishes in Paris on Sunday 26 July.
