‘We struggled last year’ – Biniam Girmay ends long winless streak on NSN debut

Girmay endured a 2025 season that was not up to the standards that the Eritrean superstar had set himself with his ground-breaking Tour de France success in 2024, when he won three stages and the green jersey. He made the step to NSN for the 2026 season, where resources and investment are all dedicated towards giving him the best chance of success and he got off to a fine start, claiming his first win since stage 12 of the 2024 Tour. 

“To be honest, it took me more than a year to get a victory,” Girmay told Eurosport after claiming his first win in almost 600 days. “We struggled last year, many seconds, but it wasn’t enough. I’m super happy, motivated and looking forward to this year. I’m happy to be back and to find the momentum and the confidence again.”

Girmay, who reckoned it would be only the second time in his career that he starts a stage in a leader’s jersey, credited his NSN teammates for navigating a nervy finale shaped by late attacks on the only climb, with Red Bull accelerating and Movistar springing a move that caught many off guard.

He also paid tribute to Giulio Pellizzari’s attacking effort in the finale, with the Italian caught close to the finish line. “Pellizzari was super strong and kept pushing right to the last kilometre,” Girmay said.

Girmay faces a difficult challenge to defend the yellow jersey in Thursday's 17km time trial, with Remco Evenepoel favourite to move into the overall lead. 

“I’d say I did 1% out of 99 on time trials,” he said. “But let’s see tomorrow, it’s a different kind of test. We also have stronger teammates for the GC, so we’ll try to keep the gaps as small as possible. It will be fun with the yellow jersey in the time trial.”

NSN's likely GC contender will be the young Spaniard Pau Marti but it remains to be seen if the team will be able to compete towards the upper hierarchy in Valenciana due to the sheer amount of GC quality on show.