BARCELONA (AP) — The Israel-Premier Tech cycling team has found a new name and will race as the NSN Cycling Team from next year onward.
The team had said last month it would rebrand and move away from its Israeli identity after being repeatedly targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters during the Spanish Vuelta and later excluded from a race in Italy. It will now move to Spain after international sports and entertainment company NSN (Never Say Never) said it was taking over the team structure alongside Swiss-based global investment platform Stoneweg. The team will be based in Barcelona and Girona, which is a popular hub for professional cyclists.
NSN was co-founded by soccer great Andres Iniesta, who played nearly 700 games for Barcelona and 131 times for Spain, leading it to the World Cup title in 2010.
“This new era marks a significant milestone in the growth of the team and an opportunity to join forces with organizations united by shared values of ambition, excellence, and the drive to inspire through sport,” NSN said in a statement.
Kjell Carlström is staying on as the cycling team's general manager.
Recommended for you
“We are proud to welcome NSN and Stoneweg to the team and announce our new name and identity,” Carlström said.
During the Spanish Vuelta cycling race earlier this year, several stages were disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters objecting to the participation of the Israel Premier Tech team. Spain's government estimated that more than 100,000 people were on the streets in Madrid during the final stage.
Premier Tech is a multinational company based in Quebec, Canada. It is the title sponsor of the cycling team co-owned by Israeli Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.