NSN's stars seem to have been cursed; Williams won't return until late summer and Blackmore's injury remains a mystery

Currently 14th on the UCI Team Ranking, NSN Cycling Team is doing rather decently as a "new" WorldTour formation... especially considering all the bad luck that's been following the Swiss formation's leaders since the start of this year. The smooth entrance into cycling's highest division must be accredited largely to the team's sprinter/classics core with Biniam Girmay, Corbin Strong and Ethan Vernon often in the spotlight.

But where the team is lacking is the mountains. It would be unfair to not mention the excellent first months with the team of young Italian climber Alessandro Pinarello, as well as the rejuvenated Kiwi champion George Bennett, however the team had far greater expectations from races with plenty altitude to ovecome.

Yet, it's hard to attribute these struggles to a bad winter preparation, or a bad signing strategy. It's simply down to poor luck when it comes to injuries for several of NSN's key pieces.

Two-time Giro d'Italia top-10 finisher Jan Hirt crashed out of UAE Tour and has since been a shadow of his best self. Speaking of shadows, another Grand Tour top-10 finisher Alexey Lutsenko delayed his start to new season until the end of March and is yet to finish a stage race. Health issues are suspected, but not confirmed for the Kazakh rider. And breakaway wizard Marco Frigo needs harder races to come to his fore. And then there are riders who are yet to pin on their numbers in 2026:

If you were to describe Stephen Williams' career with one word it'd be "struggle". The Briton's talent, especially for hilly one-day races when buckets of water pour onto riders is undeniable, yet the 29-year-old can't be happy with how his career has developed. During his seven seasons as a professional, Williams has only really been healthy in three of those (2021, 2023 and 2024), while some of the other years he hardly even managed to finish at least one race the entire year.

And 2026 frankly seems to be on the trajectory to be another of those "bad" years for Williams who hasn't raced since last year's Eschborn-Frankfurt. And NSN could certainly use the 2024 La Fleche Wallonne champion in the upcoming Ardennes week.

"Stevie is continuing intensive rehabilitation for a recovering quadriceps tendinopathy with a plan to progress back to full training in the next four to six weeks," the team communicated.

While the solution to Williams' situation seems to be at hand, his young compatriot Joe Blackmore remains in the dark. The 23-year-old rider with mountain-bike background emerged in professional peloton out of thin air, and immediately took the front stage with calm of a seasoned veteran.

After last year's Ardennes campaign with several top-15 results, Blackmore was part of the long-list of podium contenders in 2026, however the Brit is yet to participate in a race - let alone fight the likes of Remco Evenepoel.

Regarding Blackmore's health situation, NSN said: "He will undergo further specialist consultations in the next week in the UK and Belgium to investigate persistent knee pain in training which has kept him from the start line this year."