NSN sends a massive sprint train driven by Biniam Girmay to the 2026 Tour de France

As expected, Biniam Girmay has been named the team leader of the NSN Cycling Team for the Tour de France. The Eritrean, who is still only 26, won the green jersey and three stages in 2024. In July, he will line up for his fourth Tour de France.

Girmay has been NSN’s designated team leader for the Tour all year. His performances in recent weeks have cemented that role. After a long spring, he made his comeback in June with a third-place finish in the Brussels Cycling Classic. Most recently, he won a stage in the Baloise Belgium Tour.

And so NSN is taking a chance by sending a full sprint train led by Girmay to the Tour de France. Jake Stewart and Lewis Askey are the African rider’s regular lead-out men, and he’ll also be supported by Matis Louvel and Tom Van Asbroeck. This puts a full-fledged sprint train on the tracks.

Aside from the sprint train, NSN has only three spots left on the roster, which have been filled by all-rounders Marco Frigo and Krists Neilands and experienced climber George Bennett. “We’ve got a good group of riders for the race, focused predominantly around Bini and the sprints,” is how Head Sports Director Sam Bewley describes the eight-man squad in a press release.

The 38-year-old Bewley emphasizes that there’s more to the Tour than just the sprints. And so Bennett, Neilands, and Frigo will have a free role in all stages where a sprint isn’t the goal. “We want to have a purpose and a goal across the entire race, so it’s important to have guys like George, Krists, and Marco in his first Tour there so we can keep NSN in the race across as much of the three weeks as possible..”

For NSN, the main priority will be to get Girmay through the opening weekend in Spain unscathed. With a team time trial and two challenging stages through the hills, the first sprint opportunity doesn’t seem likely to arise until southern France later in the first week.

Girmay knows better than anyone that staying healthy for the vast majority of the Tour is more important than performance. “Everybody who knows me understands how special the Tour de France is to me – but I’m more interested in creating more special moments than looking back on what I’ve achieved in the past."

"We have worked hard since the start of the season to discover the best ways to work together, to build trust in each other, and to score the best results possible. I’m going into this year’s race full of confidence and with a real sense of anticipation for the first sprint opportunities."

Lewis Askey
George Bennett
Marco Frigo
Biniam Girmay
Matîs Louvel
Krists Neilands
Jake Stewart
Tom Van Asbroeck