Visma | Lease a Bike has finalized its roster for next year. On paper, the team appears weakened with the departures of riders like Olav Kooij, Tiesj Benoot, and Dylan van Baarle. Data from Cyclingflash.com shows that this conclusion might be less severe than it seems. Wielerflits therefore compares the transfers side by side.
photo: Cor Vos
The successor to Olav Kooij was not recruited externally, but developed internally. Possibly even faster than expected. Where Matthew Brennan, as a first-year pro, started this season in the White Jersey Group — the special development program within Visma | Lease a Bike — he is now a full-fledged member of the A-squad. Just last week, the young rider was able to serve Wout van Aert as lead-out. The just-turned-20 British rider has already won thirteen times this season. That is more than Kooij’s eight victories, although the wins of the Cheetah of Numansdorp were of a higher quality.
This is also reflected in the Sprint Ranking on CyclingFlash. Based on the last 365 days, Kooij is the second-best sprinter in the world. His new team Decathlon CMA CGM has therefore made a golden deal by signing the 23-year-old Dutchman. However, Visma | Lease a Bike can have confidence in Brennan, as the young British pro debuts at 24th place after his first year. The only sprinter who performed better than Brennan—and was available on the market—was Dylan Groenewegen. He ranks seventh on the Sprint Ranking and was therefore the only better option. Considering the age of the Dutchman (32), it makes sense to invest in Brennan’s great potential.
photo: Cor Vos
With Tiesj Benoot, Visma | Lease a Bike perhaps loses the most reliable rider from its spring classics core of recent years. The strong Belgian is always present in the finales of major classics and monuments, occasionally winning himself, and brings invaluable experience. That he, at 31, chooses a lucrative contract at Decathlon CMA CGM is not surprising, as the next three years he must primarily think about his financial future. Visma | Lease a Bike failed to find a replacement of the same caliber as Benoot.
On paper, Timo Kielich does not yet come close to his qualities. The 26-year-old Belgian did stand out this spring while supporting Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen. He seemed poised at Alpecin-Deceuninck to take over Søren Kragh Andersen’s role after his departure. Now he has to fill that role at Visma | Lease a Bike.
But Kielich was inferior to Benoot in almost every area last season. He ranks 89th on the Allround Ranking, whereas his predecessor is 207th. Benoot is also significantly higher on the Hill and Mountain Ranking, only not on the Sprint Ranking. That makes sense, as Kielich also acted as lead-out (including in grand tours). Not just in the spring classics, but also in grand tours the team will feel Benoot’s absence.
The partnership between Visma | Lease a Bike and Dylan van Baarle seemed destined to be a fairy tale in 2023. The Dutchman immediately won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and later also triumphed at the National Road Championships. However, bad luck and injuries caused the last three years to unfold differently than either party had hoped. The classics specialist is now moving to Soudal Quick-Step to relaunch his career. Visma | Lease a Bike thus loses a key member of its classics squad and a rider from the grand tour pool.
Van Baarle rode five of the nine Grand Tours during his time at Visma | Lease a Bike and was a valued member. Based on this past season—with the previous two years also in mind—we should see Owain Doull as his successor. He has considerably less grand tour experience (only five grand tours in his entire career, including one Tour de France), but according to the CyclingFlash rankings, he matches Van Baarle in several areas. In fact, the British classics rider ranks even higher than Van Baarle in the Overall and the Hill Ranking, despite the latter’s class. A MoneyBall transfer, in other words.
Many cycling fans see Bruno Armirail as the successor to Van Baarle. In grand tours he will likely take a similar role as the Dutchman had, but the Frenchman is much more of a climber and by no means an asset for the classics squad. He primarily replaces Attila Valter, although that is not the exact right word. The Hungarian was in the waiting room at Visma | Lease a Bike but chose the safer option when Bahrain Victorious came calling. Valter was in the waiting room because his current team was scouting the market for a better alternative.
They have definitely found that with Armirail. According to the CyclingFlash rankings, the 31-year-old Armirail showed last season that he is a much better climber and grand tour rider than his 27-year-old predecessor. Valter was brought onto the team in 2023 to develop into a team leader in the hill classics and become a strong climber.
He did not succeed in that. Although he developed into a solid domestique, Visma | Lease a Bike seems to have found a more experienced, better alternative in Armirail. Importantly, he is also an excellent time trialist and the Tour de France next year will start with a team time trial. From the sponsors’ perspective, having an additional French rider was also desirable. A win-win situation.
A similar story to Valter’s is that of Tom Gloag. The young Brit entered the team in 2023 with impressive credentials, especially after making an impression the previous autumn as a stagiaire in Italy. He replicated that performance his debut year but suffered a setback at the end of August. He was involved in a training accident and was sidelined for nearly a year. Upon his comeback, he immediately won a stage in the Czech Tour and was eighth in the Tour Down Under at the start of this season. But since then, the progression of the almost 24-year-old Brit has stalled. That had consequences.
Gloag could not remain, but immediately found a new team with Q36.5 Pro Cycling. This freed up a spot for a talented stage racer and climber on Visma | Lease a Bike’s 2026 roster. Kévin Vauquelin was the ideal signing, but financially the team could not compete with INEOS Grenadiers’ offer. They, therefore, settled on Davide Piganzoli. Compared to Gloag, this is an upgrade. The 23-year-old Italian ranks 24th on the GC Ranking at CyclingFlash and sixteenth on the Mountain Ranking. Gloag is nowhere near those rankings, mainly because he missed many points last year while Piganzoli scored well.
Based on rankings and results this year and in the past, the data show that the one-year-younger Piganzoli has delivered better performances in recent years than Gloag. This despite the Brit having benefited from the Dutch team’s knowledge and guidance for three years, while Piganzoli probably still has significant room to grow. He currently rides for the relatively small Italian ProTeam Polti-Visitt-Malta, although this team is run by former world-class riders Iván Basso and Alberto Contador. Growth potential clearly exists.
Last year, Dan McLay was brought in as a lead-out for Olav Kooij. Together, they competed in eight races, in which the Dutch sprinter claimed half of his total eight victories. With Kooij’s departure, the partnership between Visma | Lease a Bike and the 33-year-old Brit comes to a close after just one season. Since Brennan is moving up to Kooij’s sprint spot in the 2026 squad, the team had to seek another lead-out rider. Brennan is a different type of sprinter than Kooij. The Brit is more like a Peter Sagan or Michael Matthews, whereas Kooij leans toward stronger types like Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen.
That Visma | Lease a Bike then signed the nearly 31-year-old Filippo Fiorelli is no surprise. The Italian has a string of podium places but only one pro win (stage one at the 2022 Sibiu Tour). This means he knows how to maneuver in (tough) sprints but lacks top-end speed. That makes him perfectly suited as a lead-out rider. In the Sprint Ranking, McLay (177th) ranks only slightly better than Fiorelli (183rd), but it’s primarily the Hill Ranking that makes the Italian interesting. He is 90th there, while McLay doesn’t even crack the top 500. Fiorelli thus fits much better with Brennan.
As a counterargument, you could say that Fiorelli lacks much experience in the classics and has only completed the Giro d’Italia six times, but that can be refuted. Brennan will be riding the classics with a different part of the team, where riders like Christophe Laporte or Wout van Aert can also perform lead-out duties if necessary. And since there will be little room for a sprinter in the Tour de France in coming years, they will likely send Brennan to Italy—as they did with Kooij the past two years. And Fiorelli is indeed experienced, having finished five Giros.
At the lower end of the roster, two changes also took place. Two older riders were replaced by young talents. Of course, experience is not quantifiable, but at some point, a team must be refreshed. On the CyclingFlash rankings, departing Tosh Van der Sande (34) and the development team-promoted Pietro Mattio have similar scores.
Where the Belgian had more qualities as a domestique in a sprint core, Mattio’s strengths are more in hill and climbing work. Therefore, his promotion is a logical result of the team’s overall evolution, which next year notably lacks a pure sprinter. This switch is hence understandable.
The rejuvenation continues, as Julien Vermote (36) also won’t get a new contract. He was versatile on almost all terrains, which also applies to 21-year-old Tim Rex. The German-speaking Belgian (brother of Laurenz) also comes from the development team, along with Mattio. As a domestique, he impressed there in the Giro d’Italia U23, something he also demonstrated recently in the Tour de l’Avenir on behalf of the Belgian team supporting Jarno Widar.
Looking at the CyclingFlash rankings, you must conclude that Rex is not yet on Vermote’s level and thus lacks experience. The question is whether that matters for a domestique in Rex’s role within the team.
The spot freed up within the roster internally by Kooij’s departure and Brennan’s promotion was used by the team to take a gamble. With all the strong riders for stage races and classics in the team, there has been barely room for one solid sprinter in recent years, let alone two.
Climber Anton Schiffer fills the last gap. The 26-year-old German, who graduated as a sports scientist, came from triathlon and has only been cycling for a few years. His development has been rapid. Visma | Lease a Bike has a lot of experience with riders from other sports, including Primož Roglič. Are they bringing another hidden, unpolished gem on board with Schiffer?
Looking at the top of the roster with the best riders, you must conclude that Visma | Lease a Bike will regress in 2026. The departures of Olav Kooij, Tiesj Benoot, and Dylan van Baarle are particularly noticeable. They are replaced by Timo Kielich and Owain Doull, although the latter has performed almost on par with the ailing Van Baarle in recent years. In the mid-level of the squad, however, it seems the team can present itself better with Bruno Armirail, Davide Piganzoli, and Filippo Fiorelli. At the bottom with Pietro Mattio and Tim Rex, it remains to be seen, as does what Anton Schiffer can deliver.
What stands out most is that no true stars have been added, while three high earners—Kooij, Van Baarle, and to a lesser extent Benoot—are leaving. Team boss Richard Plugge has previously said he does not want to join the race of exorbitant salaries, but the question remains to what extent he can afford to. He also noted that the team’s budget has now been overtaken by teams like Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, and Decathlon CMA CGM. Visma | Lease a Bike suffers from a kind of double inflation. It’s not that the budget shrank significantly after Jumbo’s departure, but competitors’ budgets and riders' salaries have risen.
Saving for 2027 also doesn’t make much sense for Plugge. Next year, he only has five contracts expiring. Steven Kruijswijk is retiring, and he will need to be replaced. The other four are Edoardo Affini, Loe van Belle, Christophe Laporte, and Simon Yates. Except for Van Belle, these are riders the team would normally want to keep. So, there is little room to strengthen the squad for 2027.
| Rider | Ratings |
|---|---|
1409 1413 - 1242 1516 | |
1103 1317 1361 941 1045 | |
1648 1711 1256 1477 1205 | |
1317 1708 1862 1096 1290 | |
1629 1543 - 1475 1377 | |
1423 1482 1093 1274 1054 | |
1576 1582 655 1427 1074 | |
1306 1423 - 1164 853 | |
1356 1537 810 1189 1013 | |
2047 1769 1234 1905 1428 | |
1910 1603 - 1782 1400 | |
1285 1562 2162 1097 1132 | |
1720 1488 - 1597 1265 | |
1976 1640 806 1854 1331 | |
562 1424 1435 - 1153 | |
1672 1559 749 1528 1281 | |
1002 1203 1476 851 986 | |
1602 1554 769 1463 1060 | |
1513 1435 1106 1387 1017 | |
1840 1727 1162 1689 1253 | |
1750 1605 992 1636 816 | |
1577 1658 923 1402 1257 | |
1649 1759 1738 1444 1608 | |
1496 1453 - 1340 1411 | |
1007 1436 - 811 1028 | |
1063 1280 - 925 697 | |
1189 1365 795 1021 1195 | |
2216 1710 1549 2098 1593 | |
2056 1631 906 1940 1449 | |
1337 1551 1764 1162 1056 |
| Rider | Ratings |
|---|---|
1409 1413 - 1242 1516 | |
1811 1552 - 1662 1682 | |
1561 1639 817 1397 1126 | |
1103 1317 1361 941 1045 | |
1317 1708 1862 1096 1290 | |
1629 1543 - 1475 1377 | |
1485 1493 1165 1341 1072 | |
1521 1683 1469 1346 1065 | |
1576 1582 655 1427 1074 | |
1306 1423 - 1164 853 | |
1356 1537 810 1189 1013 | |
2047 1769 1234 1905 1428 | |
1910 1603 - 1782 1400 | |
1362 1519 1531 1191 1161 | |
1720 1488 - 1597 1265 | |
1976 1640 806 1854 1331 | |
562 1424 1435 - 1153 | |
1672 1559 749 1528 1281 | |
1383 1439 745 1241 961 | |
1602 1554 769 1463 1060 | |
1961 1712 1145 1828 1272 | |
1120 1355 - 1000 - | |
1513 1435 1106 1387 1017 | |
1840 1727 1162 1689 1253 | |
1649 1759 1738 1444 1608 | |
1007 1436 - 811 1028 | |
2216 1710 1549 2098 1593 | |
2056 1631 906 1940 1449 | |
1337 1551 1764 1162 1056 |
photo: Cor Vos
photo: Cor Vos
photo: Cor Vos
photo: Cor Vos
Compared to: 9/3/2024
| Rank | Rider | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - |  Tadej Pogačar | 1948 |
| 2 | 72 |  Mathieu van der Poel | 1897 |
| 3 | 29 |  Romain Gregoire | 1858 |
| 4 | 7 |  Alex Aranburu Deba | 1838 |
| 5 | - |  Marc Hirschi | 1834 |
| 93 | 104 |  Filippo Fiorelli | 1677 |
photo: Cor Vos
photo: Cor Vos
