'A sprinter needs an even more adequate structure'- Girmay's agent on his big transfer move

Agent Alex Carera, who handled the negotiations, revealed that the decision to leave Intermarché-Wanty ahead of the team's merger with Lotto was made well in advance of their merger announcement. 

"Changing teams had been discussed and decided even before the announcement that Intermarché and Lotto would merge," Carera explained to Bici.Pro. "Beyond that choice, we had four other options, primarily WorldTour teams, and obviously Lotto-Intermarché had made its offer for Biniam to stay."

The Eritrean rider endured a frustrating 2025 campaign with multiple near-misses, recording six second-place finishes and one third-place result. According to Carera, team issues contributed to Girmay's lack of victories last season.

"Even before mid-year, the management was focused on the merger project, and this weighed on the choices on the field, the materials, and the evolution of the year," he said. "In cycling today, materials are very important, and unfortunately, some choices were not up to par with the previous year."

The move to NSN Cycling represents a fresh start for Girmay. The team has undergone significant changes, rebranding away from its Israeli identity while maintaining its sporting structure.

"Israel's problem wasn't a sporting one; the structure was there, it was efficient, but unfortunately it was overwhelmed by the political situation," Carera noted. "On the sporting level, nothing has changed: the Finnish manager was and remains Finnish. On the funding side, however, everything has changed, because now the money comes from companies that don't have the same connections with Israel."

NSN plans to build a dedicated support system around the sprinter, acknowledging the specific requirements for success in sprint finishes. "A sprinter needs an even more adequate structure around him than a climber, a training ground that puts him in the best position to wait for the right moment," said Carera. 

"The fact that he's finished second six times this year, four of them with a breakaway rider winning the sprint of the chasers, shows that the quality is there; only victory was missing."

The three-year contract underscores the team's commitment to long-term development around the Eritrean star. "Cycling today creates long-term projects, something that didn't happen until 2020," Carera explained. "An athlete like Girmay, with his wealth of history, guarantees visibility and marketing."

Carera remains confident about Girmay's prospects with his new team: "Biniam is a young and growing athlete, hungry for success, and I believe that in the next three years he will return to being the rider who was among the top 10 in the world in 2024."