With the football World Cup knockout stage currently in full flow throughout North America, almost everyone who is anyone to do with the biggest sport in the world is already present, from ex-players to celebrities in New York, Toronto or Mexico City. Except, that is, for a certain Andrés Iniesta.
A Spanish legend, an all-time midfield icon, and crucially, a World Cup winner, Iniesta is instead in Barcelona, the city where he made his name as part of one of the great club sides of all time, ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ. 16 years since scoring the winning goal against the Netherlands in South Africa and etching his name into World Cup immortality in the second half of extra time, Iniesta's business is away from just football.
Iniesta is one of the co-founders of NSN (Never Say Never), a global sports and event company which joined forces with Swiss investment firm Stoneweg in autumn of 2025, when what was the Israel-Premier Tech team changed ownership and went through a change of identity following an end-of-season filled with protests due to the armed conflict in Gaza.
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Now operating as a Swiss team, but with a Catalan identity, NSN Cycling Team held a pre-Tour press conference on Wednesday evening, four days before the opening-day team time trial, with Iniesta speaking on stage alongside star rider Biniam Girmay, team director Sam Bewley, and Stoneweb Group's CEO Jaume Sabater.
Iniesta spoke about his adoration of cycling as he fielded the majority of the questions, in English and Spanish, to a packed room of international, but mostly local, media, with the World Cup an unavoidable topic before Spain's round of 32 match against Austria on Thursday.
"I think both [cycling and football] are very similar, but I think cycling is tougher," said Iniesta.
"They have millimetres, seconds can be the difference, and I was very impressed when I was in La Volta a Catalunya. I was with them in the bus, looking at what they had to do during the rides, all the stages, and I was very, very impressed with how they are working.
"For me, it's so nice to be with them in this amazing project, and of course, for me also, I can learn from them, because I love sports. I love cycling. I love football. We are ready to start this race."
Speaking in a broken third language, Iniesta didn't go too deep into the financial differences between the two sports he is involved in – having last month become the head coach of Dubai-based Gulf United FC – instead saying NSN is more interested in creating a project which fans will get behind than focusing on money.
"The people who know how is the economics, or with the sponsors, they know better than me, but from our side, we try to create the values of our team," said the 42-year-old.
"For that, I think the fans can love our team; it's not only about money, I know the money is very important for all, but we are trying to make something special."
While Inietsa will of course be keeping an eye on the likes of Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and former teammate Lionel Messi – all of whom he was asked about on Wednesday – until the final on July 19, he will also be honed into the movements of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and his team's star, Girmay.
Girmay spoke openly about some of the factors which had held him to a winless 2025 season, including slower tyres, but has shown signs of his world-beating best again this year since joining NSN, winning three times in Valenciana, Almeria, and at the Baloise Belgium Tour last month.
With football royalty alongside him, Girmay was asked about swapping football for cycling as a child and the path that led him to take. A history maker in cycling and one of the top sprinters in the world, the Eritrean said he had no regrets about that decision.
"It's two different things, you know. At that time, actually, I was young, I was playing football at 11 and 12 years old, and I was good at it, but at the same time, I think maybe here they don't know, in Eritrea, cycling is bigger, so yeah, I decided to change sport," said Girmay.
"I'm happy to be a cyclist, and actually I achieved my dreams, because that's what I dreamed of when I was a kid, and I don't have any regrets. I'm just happy I changed to cycling."
Girmay will be the primary hope for NSN as the Tour unfolds, hoping to repeat his hat-trick heroics and green jersey triumph from the 2024 edition of the race, but he'll likely have to wait at least five days until he gets a chance to sprint after the tough Catalan start and early entry to the Pyrenees.
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