NSN DS explains presence of former owner Sylvan Adams at team camp

The team was known as Israel-Premier Tech in the 2025 season, and it achieved a couple of top results over the course of the year, including a fourth in the general classification at the Giro d'Italia with Derek Gee-West and a fifth in the Vuelta a España with Matthew Riccitello.

Riccitello has since joined Decathlon CMA CGM, while Gee-West is rumoured to be joining Lidl-Trek, having unilaterally terminated his contract with the team. There was also no WorldTour victory in 2025 for the squad, whose presence at the Vuelta amid Israel's invasion of Gaza was subject to repeated human rights demonstrations.

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Guerrero outlines that the team is set to switch focus after the aforementioned departures. "Back then we had two men for the general classification in Grand Tours, such as Derek Gee and Riccitello, and now we have changed the approach, signing Girmay, a key rider for classics and for stages of the Tour de France, as he showed two years ago," said Guerrero to Marca. 

Girmay won the 2024 Tour de France green jersey along with a hat-trick of stages in what was a ground-breaking moment, potentially inspiring future generations of young African cyclists.

Guerrero then went on to illustrate the now Swiss-registered outfit's ambitions: "The mentality is clear: win races and win stages rather than thinking about general classifications."

The team pledged to rebrand and move away from its Israeli identity in the wake of the protests at the Vuelta, though that didn't prevent Premier Tech and Factor from withdrawing their backing. 

"It's a new team, although the structure is very similar and we've made some adjustments. said Guerrero. "We have to look forward. It is a new stage, with new illusions, and there is no point in looking back."

Former team owner Sylvan Adams was spotted at the NSN training camp last month, but Guerrero said that the Canadian-Israeli businessman was no longer involved within the setup of the team. "It was a way of saying goodbye, of transmitting peace of mind and of making the transfer to the new members, leaving everything in good hands," Guererro said.

NSN cycling team are set to begin their new project in the UCI WorldTour with an outing in the Santos Tour Down Under to come, with the squad containing Kiwi George Bennett so far.