“We’re here to ride bikes, not to be politicians”: Biniam Girmay “doesn’t care” about NSN Cycling’s history as Israeli team; “This isn’t a war on motorists”; Could Winter Olympics star switch to cycling?; Rapha’s RideLondon idea + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"We're here to ride bikes, not to be politicians": Biniam Girmay "doesn't care" about NSN Cycling's history as Israeli team
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Biniam Girmay’s move to NSN Cycling turned some heads this winter, not least because, when it was first rumoured, the team was facing protests and seeing invitations to races pulled over its Israeli identity.
Bike sponsor Factor exited their relationship, as did lead sponsor Premier-Tech. Controversial team boss Sylvan Adams took a step back, investment came in from Andrés Iniesta’s NSN, and the squad got a new look and fresh start.
With the team no longer Israeli-registered and no longer riding around effectively as a billboard for the country, the noise is expected to be quiet around NSN this campaign.
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But what does Biniam Girmay, the team’s new star who won his first race for NSN last week, think about the events of the past few months and the squad’s history?
“To be honest, I don’t care,” he told Marca. Tell us how you really feel, Biniam…
“All I care about is the people on the team and the family atmosphere we have. We’re here to ride bikes, not to be politicians. The name is always the name, but we want to compete. We have ambition, and I’m here to win.”
Comparing his new team to life at Intermarché–Wanty, Girmay said: “Completely different. Here we’re a more global and international team, with many nationalities. I like this atmosphere. It’s a very well-organised team, NSN has higher-quality cyclists and staff.”
No punches pulled in this one…
Nine of the cheapest* 2026 aero road bikes (according to Liam)
Transport for London "working urgently to restore service" on Santander Cycles
Transport for London has apologised for disruption to its Santander Cycles hire bikes, the service’s app currently down and affecting riders’ journeys across the city.
A spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for the disruption caused to Santander Cycles customers. We’re working hard to investigate the issue and restore services as soon as possible. We will keep customers informed with the latest updates.”
A second statement shared at 1pm said the problem was linked to “a connectivity issue”.
“Lack of action means more people killed cycling”: Campaigners demand change as latest stats show cyclists seriously injured in London up 14%
All roads lead to Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix for Jasper Philipsen this spring
Jasper Philipsen will target a second Milan-San Remo this spring, as well as a return to Paris-Roubaix, where he has finished second behind teammate Mathieu van der Poel twice. Alpecin-Premier Tech outlined the Belgian sprinter’s spring campaign in a post on Instagram, Philipsen also taking in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Dwars door Vlaanderen, and a few semi-classics and smaller races too.
Driver described as “otherwise decent individual” spared jail after ramming cyclist off the road
> Driver described as “otherwise decent individual” spared jail after ramming cyclist off the road
Some more of your reaction to RideLondon's demise
The comments rolled on into the night, here’s a few more on RideLondon being put on an “indefinite pause”…
jaymack: “While I must say that I enjoyed RideLondon I’ve enjoyed audax more. If you want to a cycle challenging distance over an interesting parcours you should give audax a go. There’s none of the bike snobbery I’ve encountered on a sportive; there’s no ‘good luck getting around on that’ and audax is all the better for it.”
Phil on Facebook: “Such a shame, as soon as the woeful Surrey County Council removed their backing it was inevitable.”
Graham on Bluesky: “They couldn’t even sell enough entries on the last running to need to run the ballot so everyone who wanted in, got in. The route was boring boring boring and only went to one ‘sight’. Miles of concrete dual carriageway, little support, roadworks galore. And a shit medal one year.”
The damp finale: Can I ride a 200km Audax 12 months in a row? Ride #12
> The damp finale: Can I ride a 200km Audax 12 months in a row? Ride #12
Looking for an event now RideLondon is gone? Rapha reckons it has got the answer
In the absence of RideLondon, Rapha wanted to shout-out its FARs, a series of big one-day rides available to its members.
The first one of 2026 is coming up on 30 May and, who knows, there might even be a bit of sunshine by then… optimistic thinking, I know…
In essence, Rapha plots a route, you ride it. One of last year’s included a 162km day out with 1,936m of climbing. Members can choose between riding solo, with friends or as part of one of a RCC Ride Leader-led groups.
Doing the maths, Rapha points out to access the rides you’ll need to be a member (£70 for the year), whereas RideLondon famously used to cost up to £99, so unsurprisingly the iconic cycling clothing brand reckons you should become an RCC member, do a couple of its rides a year, and enjoy the rest of the benefits too.
Rapha also tells us it is bringing back RCC insurance later this month and will have a new club kit out at the end of the month too.
Could this Winter Olympics star switch to pro cycling?
Two golds in the current Olympics, XC skier Johannes Klæbo likes his cycling and has hinted at switching to road racing at some point. He is already sponsored by Uno-X. But for now he’s got more medals to win this week
— the Inner Ring blog (@inrng.com) 11 February 2026 at 08:07
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo vs Primož Roglič in the winter sports x cycling royal rumble? Or is this all just a repeat of the Kristian Blummenfelt saga from the last Summer Olympics?
Yep, we were all quite excited when one of the world’s best triathletes was outspoken about his belief he could win the Tour de France within a few years. Blummenfelt ended up disappointing in Paris and the rumours quickly died down, the word from his camp that he didn’t want to give up all the money in triathlon for a lowly pro cycling contract.
What do you say, Klæbo?
For the uninitiated, the Norwegian cross-country skiing legend yesterday won his second gold of the Winter Olympics, the seventh of his career. Last year he won all six world championship events. At 29, any sport swap would need to come soon, but we’re down if he is…
"This isn't a war on motorists at all... this is about a safe, viable choice to travel in a different way"
Let’s kick off Wednesday with some comments from the West Midlands’ Active Travel Commissioner, Beccy Marston, who has been in the local press spreading the word about walking and cycling, shutting down some common misconceptions, and generally doing a good job of promoting active travel.
While projects to boost walking, cycling and wheeling usually see local newspaper headlines and social media discussion about space being taken from motorists and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money being involved, Marston was straight to the point when talking to the Express and Star about her role.
“This isn’t a war on motorists at all. This is about giving you safe, viable choice to travel in a different way,” she said.
“It’s got to be the right tool for the job. Don’t see it as an attack on motorists, see it as a way to improve your health, the air that you breathe. Sat in traffic you are breathing in more pollution and the air you breathe on the side of the road walking is cleaner.
“People get in a car to drive to the gym to do exercise. If you cycle to your office, there is your exercise done for the day. You’ve got an hour back – it’s quicker, it’s reliable and you do more stuff, see nature. It’s worth trying it in the summer.
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@jackcycles Unfortunately now, people are guilty until proved innocent. Mud sticks. I am not saying he is guilty or innocent, but it is the way of the world now.
@chrisonabike "more rational, efficient and dependable" The cost will explode across taxpayers. The administration could've used HS2 money as a beginning step, but they chose not to. Windshield bias will still be whacking the cyclist in 100 years. I don't see many cyclists bothered by it. I see many possible cyclists put off cycling by it but we know this already.
Guess it depends on what he says and whether his words have been twisted or taken out of context, but generally we should select athletes on the basis of their ability, not stuff they say, unless it's against the law..
@chrisonabike all active travel money should be immediately reallocated to fixing potholes and trimming hedges/vegetation. A lot of the reason why cycling and/or jogging is so difficult in my area is due to road surface quality and getting artificially narrowed by poor maintenance. That way, no more terrible, unpopular "active travel"/segregation decisions that need to be overturned
@jackcycles "a stark throwback to the days just after COVID when the lunatics were briefly left to run the asylum" You mean the Conservative government of Boris? Not a fan of him or Matt Hancock either, but I thought eg. Jonathan Van-Tam did a pretty good job? "All people want is a joined up travel experience where cyclists can use the road – along with all other forms of transport – to get from A to B with the least fuss." I tried that but I found the canal wet, being held up by rollerskaters vexing, dodging the passing lorries at 60mph scary, before I was run over by the train... "Absolutely scandalous waste of taxpayer money"... I quite agree, what on earth are they doing wasting active travel money to make active travel less pleasant (and indeed places less pleasant) and convenient?
Absolutely scandalous waste of taxpayer money that the road was originally shut to cars... A stark throwback to the days just after COVID when the lunatics were briefly left to run the asylum, when activists and agitators ran amok against all rationality and economic sense. How many (less than) useless LTNs and no-car zones were set up at this time, under a supposed free market Tory government, costing countless hours of congestion and destroying livelihoods and town centres? Whilst it's great that the cheque book has been removed, there are yet more brainless initiatives today, such as pointless "20" zones (er, just enforce the existing 30 please). All people want is a joined up travel experience where cyclists can use the road - along with all other forms of transport - to get from A to B with the least fuss. This country isn't set up to remove long-established road infrastructure, and as recent figures revealed countries that have spaffed countless millions on cycling infrastructure (such as the Netherlands) actually have *worse* KSIs than the UK, despite our potholed, shoddy roads.
@mark1212123 "One solution states removing bias in a human being requires a pause before a decision is made." Was the other solution to remove their brain and replace it with something more rational, efficient and dependable?
@mdavidford Hmm, if comparing designs where the load is "between the wheels" (2-wheel "bakfiets" style and 8freight) as opposed to having the load higher (longtail) I wonder? Also unless you're really shifting heavy stuff the main mass is the rider. But I've never ridden a two-wheel front-loader cargo bike (brief use of a 3-wheeler, but that's a different thing again...). I have used some indirect linkage-steer bikes (recumbents) and they all seemed easy enough to learn and manage *. Many (all normal?) bike designs tend self- balance when moving - perhaps this applies to such cargo bikes also? * Aside from brief initial "don't look at the front wheel" confusion. And assuming steering is not loose/faulty, which is likely rarer but still possible with a more direct system. And once you realise your turning circle is more like "car"...
@chrisonabike "Don’t rely strongly on “rules” great point. "How to avoid conflict on the roads?" Not possible. Expecting conflict is the daily for me on uk roads.
@mark1212123 make sure you instruct it that you need your answer in ternary, starting from 1. How to avoid conflict on the roads? Don't travel! How to reduce that but some travel has to happen? Reduce the number of interactions, reduce mental workload, increase the time to detect and deal with conflicts (your "pause"), work *with* human mental architecture (energy-saving behaviours, emotions, strong feelings about "fairness" and "cheating", in-group/out-group effects). What that implies? Don't mix modes of travel where they have very different speeds/mass/behaviour patterns. Mixing *can* occur where you can ensure that modes are more similar (eg.slow down drivers...) Don't rely strongly on "rules" or (signed) instructions for safety - because humans.
4 thoughts on ““We’re here to ride bikes, not to be politicians”: Biniam Girmay “doesn’t care” about NSN Cycling’s history as Israeli team; “This isn’t a war on motorists”; Could Winter Olympics star switch to cycling?; Rapha’s RideLondon idea + more on the live blog”
A keyboard-bothering match-up that our live blogger is presumably hoping doesn’t come about.
RE: the active travel commissioner’s comments: “This isn’t a war on motorists at all. This is about giving you safe, viable choice to travel in a different way”.
Very restrained. She could have gone with:
“This isn’t a war on motorists at all. Never was. It’s been a war on people’s ability to travel safely and conveniently in the public realm, their health in general and the provision of access to pleasant spaces and amenities … all at the service of the motor industries, related trades and their political sponsors. Since before the leaded petrol scam, before the invention of ‘jaywalking’ …”
Biniam Girmaye is a cycling professional who is paid to win races, which he already did with his new team. He may or may not have opinions about Israel but he isn’t willing to express them publicly. The NSN Team PR & Comms manager did a good job. Useless controversy averted.
So… basically an audax then?
Not trying to bash Rapha too hard, but if you just want someone else to plot out a nice long ride, that you can do either by yourself or with friends, then that’s what an audax is.
I guess the RCC Leader-led groups might be nice for someone with less confidence, or if you’ve signed up to the event by yourself and want to be sure of having a group to ride with (with an audax, you’re relying on the kindness of strangers in that situation – not that that is often in short supply).