The landing of Biniam Girmay to the NSN Cycling It is one of the main transfer market moves, certainly after the transfer of Evenepoel to Red Bull-Bora and Ayuso to Lidl-Trek. Not only because of the Eritrean rider's great specific weight, coming off a difficult final season, but also for the changes taking place in his new team, which changed its name and license moving away from the Israeli reality that has created so many problems, see the last Vuelta.
A negotiation that Alex Carera He personally oversaw and supervised the project, and he explains it candidly: "The change of team had been discussed and decided even before the announcement that Intermarché and Lotto would merge. In addition to that decision, we had four other possibilities, of WorldTour teams first and foremost and obviously Lotto-Intermarché had made its proposal for Biniam to stay. First of all we understood whether we wanted to continue or not and at the time we terminated the contract, contacts with the other teams had already begunWe made our choice mainly based on the calendar possibilities and the sporting project they submitted to us."
Having had contact with them, how much has NSN Cycling changed compared to Israel last season?
Israel's problem wasn't a sporting one, the structure was there, it was efficient, but unfortunately it was crushed by the political problem, even if it should never be like that. The problem for Israel Premier Tech was that the funds were coming from a country in a difficult political situation.But on a sporting level, nothing has changed: the Finnish manager was and remains Finnish, for one thing. On a financial level, however, everything has changed, because now the money comes from clubs that don't have the same connections with Israel.
How did Biniam arrive at the new team? What stage of his career is he at?
We had a steady growth in the first four years at Intermarché, while in 2025 he had a year with a myriad of second places, but with a difficult team situation. Already before the middle of the year, the managers were focused on the merger project and this weighed on the choices made, on materials, on the evolution of the vintage. In today's cycling, materials and Unfortunately some choices were not up to the previous year's standards. Consequently, they have influenced the athletic performance of many athletes. which have delivered less than their potential. Biniam is still a young and growing athlete, who is 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.
The team said they want to invest heavily in him, especially to work hard on building a set-up suitable for various types of races, both one-day classics and grand tours…
It's normal, that's also why we chose the team, because it's part of their plan to build a strong team around him. A sprinter needs even more of a proper structure around him than a climber., of a train that puts him in the condition to be able to wait for the right moment in the best position. The fact that he has finished second six times and third twice this year, four of which with a breakaway rider winning the sprint of the pursuers, says that the quality is there, only the victory was missingLet's hope the new structure gives him that extra something to enjoy success again.
Is signing a three-year contract also part of this plan, in the sense of working on a project around Biniam to help him win more and more?
Certainly. Today, cycling creates long-term projects, something that didn't happen until 2020. An athlete like Girmay, with his wealth of history, guarantees visibility and marketing and it's up to us agents to make that clear.Kjell Calstrom's team had every interest in creating a long-term project, otherwise they risk being separated before their goals are realized, and sirens might come from other teams. Long-term projects must be created now.
