The Savoyard training announced on Monday the arrival of five new runners for the next season, at the same time as the departure of the climber Bruno Armirail.
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The Decathlon team is cleaning for the 2026 season. While the Historical Sponsor AG2R La Mondiale will be replaced next season by CMA CGM, the Savoyard original training continues to modify its workforce. After the already official departures of Clément Berthet and Bastien Tronchon (towards Groupama-FDJ) or the French champion Dorian Godon (towards ineos grenadiers), it is Bruno Armirail's turn to leave the French team.
The 31-year-old Bigourdan climber, who had arrived at the end of his contract, signed up for two years with the Visma-Lease A Bike training in Jonas Vingegaard. “This is a unique opportunity in my career to run for one of the best world teams”assured the triple French champion of the time trial, who joins two other French people there, Christophe Laporte and Axel Zingle. “I want to challenge myself by changing the environment and running for the first time for a foreign team” After five seasons at Groupama-FDJ and two at Decathlon, he added. “I also look forward to being part of a team that can play victory in almost all shopping”.
In the opposite direction, the leading sprinter Olav Kooij, who won 10 victories this season, including two stages of the Tour of Italy, made the opposite path. He arrives in the French training with four other runners: the Belgian Robbe Ghys, the Dutch Cees Bol and Daan Hoole, winner in 2025 of the 10th stage of the Tour of Italy and champion of the Netherlands of the time trial, and the Danish Tobias Lund Andresen who “will be in 2026, the second reference sprinter of the team” Behind Kooij according to the press release.
With Decathlon, “We share a great ambition to perform at the highest level, which, I hope, will contribute to many victories in the coming years”explained Kooij, 23, who has just won three wins of the Tour de Great Britain, won Sunday by French Romain Grégoire.
“With this recruitment, we know that we will have the ability to win more World Tour victories next season”said Sébastien Joly, the director of the sports strategy of Decathlon, who had also announced the arrival of Tiesj Benoot a few days ago. “Olav Kooij is a sprinter still young but already experienced. Our goal is to accompany him so that he continues to progress in the coming years”added Sébastien Joly.
