NSN 2026 Tour de France: Girmay leads hunt for stage wins

2025 Tour de France: 

• 2025 Tour stage wins: 0
• 2025 Best GC finish: 48th - Joseph Blackmore

2026 Objectives:

The team will be hoping to make their mark in the sprints with former three-time stage and points classification winner Biniam Girmay. The Eritrean will be supported in the sprints by the British duo of Lewis Askey and Jake Stewart, as well as Frenchman Matis Louvel and the Belgian Tom Van Asbroeck.

Marco Frigo, George Bennett and Krists Neilands make up the lineup for NSN, with the trio among those who will go hunting for stage victories from breakaways.

“We’ve got a good group of riders for the race, focused predominantly around Bini [Girmay] and the sprints,” NSN's Head Sports Director Sam Bewley said in an official statement. 

“But the race is 21 stages. We want to have a purpose and a goal across the entire race, so it’s important to have guys like George [Bennett], Krists [Neilands], and Marco [Frigo] in his first Tour there so we can keep NSN in the race across as much of the three weeks as possible."

🇪🇷 Biniam Girmay (26): Biniam Girmay is NSN's designated leader for the 2026 Tour, with the Eritrean hoping to replicate the form that saw him win three stages and the points classification in the 2024 edition. The 26-year-old Eritrean started life at NSN with a bang, winning the opening stage of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana, before adding the Clasica de Almeria. Girmay had to wait a while for his next victory, but it came at a good time in June on the opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour, which will give him plenty of confidence and momentum heading into July.

🇬🇧 Jake Stewart (26): Jake Stewart has raced six Grand Tours in his career so far, two editions of each. The versatile British rider will be an important member of Girmay's leadout, but as a former Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage winner in 2025, could step up to sprint if required. Stewart could also feature in breakaways as we saw at the Tour last summer, which included finishing sixth on the penultimate stage.

🇬🇧 Lewis Askey (25): The 25-year-old British rider made his Tour debut last summer for Groupama-FDJ, and will line up for his second consecutive edition, this time in the colours of NSN. Askey is another versatile rider who will form part of Girmay's leadout, but could also sniff out his own opportunities if presented with the chance. After finishing fourth overall at the Baloise Belgium Tour, it's clear that Askey is in good form and could be one to watch.

🇱🇻 Krists Neilands (31): The Latvian has made five Tour appearances previously, the joint-most in the NSN line-up. In each previous edition, Neilands has made his mark from the breakaway, and once more will be among those stage hunting. Neilands featured in the breakaway at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year. 

🇳🇿 George Bennett (36): The New Zealand Champion is one of NSN's strongest climbers and a two-time former top 10 finisher at the Vuelta in 2016 and Giro in 2018. Bennett was particularly active at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, featuring in three breakaways, and finished 11th on the final stage from the main peloton, offering a glimpse of what we can expect this July.

🇮🇹 Marco Frigo (26): The Italian is set to make his Tour de France debut. If his five previous appearances across the Giro and Vuelta are anything to go by, Frigo will be a key protagonist in breakaways across the three weeks of racing. This season has seen the Italian finish tenth at the Amstel Gold Race after featuring in the breakaway, and fourth on a recent stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

🇫🇷 Matis Louvel (26): The sole French representative in NSN's line-up, Louvel makes up part of the core lead-out group for Girmay in the sprints. The 26-year-old has plenty of experience at the Tour, having already completed three laps around France. 

🇧🇪 Tom Van Asbroeck (36): The Belgian is set for his sixth Grand Tour appearance, but his first since the 2020 Tour de France. That was Van Asbroeck's only previous appearance at the French Grand Tour, and at 36, the Belgian has a wealth of experience to add to Girmay's leadout.