Israel-Premier Tech rebrand as NSN Cycling Team for 2026 season, will race under Swiss licence

Israel-Premier Tech have rebranded as NSN Cycling Team and will race under a Swiss licence for the 2026 season, they announced on Thursday evening.

After Canadian sponsor Premier Tech pulled out and they confirmed a rebrand was coming to move "away from its current Israeli identity", international sports and entertainment company Never Say Never (NSN) and global investment platform Stoneweg have entered into "a joint venture" to take over the team structure for next season.

The new name and licence change come off the back of several protests at races against the team's participation, amid Israel's armed conflict in Gaza. The protests led to the cancellation of the final stage at the Vuelta a España, and saw the previously Israeli-registered team pushed out of the Italian autumn Classics due to safety concerns.

Alongside confirming a name change would happen, Canadian-Israeli billionaire team owner Sylvan Adams also stepped back from his day-to-day involvement ahead of the overhaul.

Bike brand Factor is also expected to leave, according to a report on Daniel Benson's Substack, with Scott bikes reportedly stepping in.

The team had closed its website and social media accounts last weekend, in preparation for the overhaul, and they were revealed on Thursday. While it is a Swiss team, it will have a Spanish identity running through it, with a structure based in Girona and Barcelona.

"We are proud to welcome NSN and Stoneweg to the team and announce our new name and identity: NSN Cycling Team," said team manager Kjell Carlström in the announcement.

"This is an incredibly exciting new chapter for the team, and we can’t wait to make our debut as NSN Cycling Team."

The team will step back up to the WorldTour-level, cycling's highest division, in 2026, after earning promotion throughout the most recent three-year cycle.

Carlström also suggested that it was NSN, a Spanish company who have organised exhibition football matches for Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in Latin America and holds a majority stake in the gravel-bike brand GUAVU, which bought the licence.

"NSN’s acquisition of the team license, and subsequent role in the team’s operations, is an opportunity to welcome investment from an industry leader in global sports and entertainment, drawing on their wealth of experience to the benefit of the team and our partners," he said.

"NSN shares our commitment to innovation, development, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in cycling. Our long-term relationship with Stoneweg acts as a foundation for this new partnership and together, we have ambitious goals for the coming WorldTour cycle."

Having partnered previously with Stoneweg on several joint projects, the Swiss platform is now a shareholder of NSN. Together, they described cycling as "a sport with strong global growth prospects in the coming years, one that represents values well aligned with the company."

"Launching NSN Cycling Team is a proud moment for all of us and we are incredibly excited to work with Kjell and the whole team to ensure we can compete at the very highest level of world cycling in the years ahead," said Stoneweg group CEO Jaume Sabater.

"Cycling is a sport that promotes values we firmly believe in from ambition and resilience to teamwork and integrity. Our new WorldTour team aims to embody these principles and inspire the next generation of riders and fans."

The continental development squad has also been renamed to NSN Development Team, and both they and the WorldTour squad will meet next week at a pre-season training camp, before the team's new look and race program is unveiled towards the end of the year.