Riley Sheehan will leave NSN Cycling Team at the end of the 2026 season to join Netcompany INEOS on a two-year contract covering 2027 and 2028.
The 26-year-old American arrives after his strongest season since turning professional, with victories at Circuit de Wallonie and on the opening stage of the Czech Tour, as well as second overall at the Tour de Wallonie. Netcompany INEOS confirmed the signing on Thursday as the British team continues to reshape its Classics group for 2027.
Sheehan has built his reputation as an aggressive one-day racer with enough speed to finish from reduced groups. That profile was already clear when he won Paris-Tours in 2023 as a stagiaire, becoming the first American winner of the race, and his 2026 results have shown that breakthrough was not an isolated performance.
Two-year deal gives Sheehan a WorldTour move
Netcompany INEOS have signed Sheehan through the end of 2028. He joins from NSN Cycling Team, where he has raced since the Israel-Premier Tech era and developed into one of the squad’s more reliable options for hilly Classics and difficult stage-race finishes.
“Joining Netcompany INEOS is a dream come true,” Sheehan said in the team’s announcement. He added that he still feels there is much more to achieve in his career and sees the move as the right next step.
Director of Racing Geraint Thomas highlighted Sheehan’s speed, technical ability and range across different terrain. Netcompany INEOS see him as a rider who can strengthen the Classics group while still contributing across a broader programme.
Sheehan turns consistency into wins in 2026
The first of Sheehan’s two victories this year came at Circuit de Wallonie in May. He won from a reduced group in Charleroi after a hard 196-kilometre race, producing a clear uphill sprint to take his first win since Paris-Tours in 2023.
That result came shortly after eighth at the Grand Prix du Morbihan and was followed by an even stronger Tour de Wallonie. Sheehan finished second overall after five stages, added second and third places during the week and won the points classification. The result underlined that his strengths extend beyond single-day racing, particularly when a stage race is built around repeated short climbs and selective finishes.
His second win came at the Czech Tour in August. Sheehan beat Ben Turner, who will become his Netcompany INEOS teammate next season, in the opening stage at Karlovy Vary after finding a narrow gap in the final sprint.
The win was his first for NSN’s WorldTour team in 2026, following the Circuit de Wallonie victory achieved while racing with support from the development squad. He also finished 14th at the GP Montréal in September and represented the United States at the World Championships later that month.
Paris-Tours breakthrough changed his career
Sheehan’s route to this point has been unusual. He was racing for Denver Disruptors when Israel-Premier Tech brought him in as a stagiaire in 2023, and he then won Paris-Tours in October of that year. That victory immediately changed his trajectory and earned him a full professional contract.
The way he won also helped define the rider he has become. Paris-Tours rewards riders who can handle repeated attacks, gravel sectors and a fast finish after more than 200 kilometres, and Sheehan showed he could manage all three despite arriving at the race with limited top-level experience.
He has since built a wider set of results around that breakthrough, including third at Eschborn-Frankfurt in 2024, third overall at the 2025 Deutschland Tour and second on a stage there, before stepping forward again this season.
Sheehan remained with the organisation through its transition into NSN Cycling Team for 2026. ProCyclingUK covered the launch of NSN Cycling Team ahead of this season, with Sheehan among the riders retained into the new structure.
Netcompany INEOS continue rebuilding for 2027
Sheehan becomes another addition to a Netcompany INEOS roster that is changing significantly ahead of next season. The team have already brought in riders including Harold Tejada, Markel Beloki and Clément Champoussin, while Filippo Ganna and Magnus Sheffield are among the established names moving elsewhere.
The American offers a different profile to those climbing-focused arrivals. His ability to race aggressively in one-day events, finish from small groups and handle technical finales gives the team another option for the spring Classics and harder reduced sprints.
At 26, he also arrives with enough experience to contribute immediately rather than needing a long development period. The two-year contract gives Netcompany INEOS time to see whether his 2026 progression can be carried into WorldTour Classics, while Sheehan gets the strongest team platform of his career so far.
