Tiesj Benoot calls for action: ‘We all need to stop riding at the front when Van der Poel and Pogacar are there’

Benoot joined DSM in 2022 and made his mark on the yellow and black team until 2025. By being part of the winning Tour core, contributing to the classics, and stringing together results himself. He finished in the top ten in a WorldTour classic 20 (!) times and won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

Nevertheless, much to the regret of Richard Plugge, Grischa Niermann, Wout van Aert, and others, the Belgian left for the French Decathlon CMA CGM, just like Olav Kooij. That team is in the midst of a French (r)evolution to become a world-class team, and according to CEO Dominique Serieys and his colleagues, Benoot is the missing piece of the puzzle.

Tiesj, you've been a pro since 2015. How did you view Decathlon/AG2R from the outside during those ten or eleven years?
'Wow, good question. When I turned pro in the WorldTour, I already looked up to the team. With Romain Bardet, they had someone who went for the Tour victory every year and stood on the podium twice. When my time at Lotto came to an end, we were in contact for a while. But then I ended up at Sunweb.

In the years that followed, the team faded into the background a bit, perhaps because they missed out on some developments. But in the last two years, I've seen them really take steps forward. Big steps. It's one of the fastest-growing teams in professional cycling. If you look at where they've finished in the UCI Ranking in the last two years—without the biggest names—fifth and sixth, I think.

That was also one of my motivations for ultimately taking the step, that I would be joining a project that is growing. Everyone has the will to move forward, and that's something you need to be critical.

Are you constantly being asked about Visma's approach?
(laughs) ‘That's right, but you journalists do the same thing. Everyone asks what the difference is.’

What's the difference?
The biggest difference is that I'm working with lots of new people. If I were to start my fifth year at Visma, everything would become routine. I wasn't tired of it, but it does feel refreshing. You have a renewed desire to prove yourself, you meet lots of new people, and things are slightly different at a structural level. But that's the case with every team.

With your maturity, do you still have to follow the protocols or can you also follow your own approach to some extent??
'There is definitely an interaction. You have to keep adapting things, because cycling is evolving. I also strongly believe that it's good to give your body new stimuli if you want to keep making progress. At my previous team, I also sat down with my trainer Tim Heemskerk at the end of each year to discuss what could be done differently.

At Decathlon-CMA CGM, there is certainly room for personal input, but I think it's important that the final responsibility lies with the expert. But that was also the case at Visma: I think people have a more sterile image of that team than it actually is.'

How did that process go?
Several teams were interested. After talking to Dominique Serieys and Stephen Barret, I was convinced that it could be a great move, and I was also looking forward to stepping outside my comfort zone and joining a growing project. At Visma, we won three Grand Tours and five spring classics in 2023.

Whether you like it or not, that's how you're measured. When we finished second last summer and won the team classification, I couldn't say it felt like a victory. But if that happens here, the season will be more than successful."

Wout van Aert tried to keep you on board, and Richard Plugge was also very disappointed about your departure.
'That's nice to hear, and I could have continued at Visma, but it's not the end of the world. I still have a very good relationship with Wout and discussed it with him before I signed. I also wanted him to be aware of what was going on, because we were working on a project together.

And I talked to other guys as well. Oliver Naesen is one of them, but also Stan Dewulf, a good friend of mine, and Johannes Staune Mittet. The picture I was given corresponds with what I see. The desire to improve is very strong.'

What will your role be in your new team?
'Of course, there's the spring, which will be similar to previous years. Maybe I'll be pushed forward a little more, but at Visma I was always one of the three or four protected riders. I never had to sacrifice my chances there either.

In the Tour, I didn't have any ambitions of my own at Visma | Lease a Bike, because it was also a personal goal to win the race with Jonas Vingegaard. That's going to change here, because we'll be going with Olav Kooij as sprinter and a few stage winners. But try winning one of those transition stages in the Tour: on those days, there are 100 guys eager to go. It's different, also physiologically, than a classic.

Paul Seixas? I think they'll decide that after the spring. He's still only 19 years old. The potential is there, otherwise you don't finish third in the European Championships behind Pogacar and Evenepoel.

What advice can you give Paul, because you experienced the same thing in 2015 when you finished fifth in your first Tour of Flanders as a neo-pro?
‘What Paul is doing is on a different level.’

But the Belgian press must have been at your door that Monday?
'People sometimes ask me if it was a poisonous gift, but I don't see it that way. I'm still very proud of it. The next day, the newspaper said: better than Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara in their first three participations. That was true, but I already knew that I would never win five races in a year. But if I did, it would probably be a good one. Because I'm always there in the big races."

And that's how it turned out. Speaking of those big races: Strade Bianche is one that you've won, but you won't be riding it for the third time in a row this year.
‘I hope to peak from E3 to Liège. I've competed in Strade five times and always finished in the top eight. And I'll definitely be back, because it's the only race I regret having to miss due to the altitude training camp.’

Do you still have the dream of winning a Monument?
'I wouldn't call it a dream. Of course I still have ambitions, but I also know that it won't radically change my life. What I personally enjoy very much is riding the finals in those races. Being able to play your part on those biggest days. For me, everything has to come together to win.

Now that Pogacar has started riding the classics and Van der Poel has taken a big step forward, it has become almost utopian for many riders. But something could happen to them too, and of course they don't ride everything. The Tour of Flanders has been made so difficult that tactics no longer matter. In addition, UAE is also very strong.'

Is it annoying to see Nils Politt - who himself rode on the podiums in Flanders and Roubaix - riding in the front?
‘He also rides very fast uphill in the Tour, with just eighteen riders on his wheel. In 2022 and 2023, people looked at us with some envy. That's precisely why I respect it. Hats off to those guys for being so strong.’

Does that mean you often don't finish in your place in the spring? That you finish sixth or seventh, while in a less demanding race you end up in a larger group and would finish around 17th or 21st?
'That's partly true, because sometimes you also have the opposite effect. By that I mean: Pogacar goes for it and behind him the race is quickly on for second and third place. That's how it's been for the past two years in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where we ride with a large group for the podium. In 2024, Van der Poel came up on the Roche-aux-Faucons about a minute after me, then came back through the headwind and finished third."

Can something be done about those two guys?
We all have to stop riding at the front when Van der Poel and Pogacar are there. I don't understand that. In my opinion, that's racing for second place: if you start helping them...

So what is the way? Lombardy, last year, with a strong group from the beginning?
‘Then it will be attempted, and that's great. I like to see someone like Quinn Simmons racing. And that also applies to Mads Pedersen.’

When will 2026 be successful for you?
'I want to reach my level, but I also want to win a race. And if I win a race, it will be a good one. It has to fall into place. I enjoy riding races like Dwars door Vlaanderen. It's difficult, but you can still do something as a team.

I think we can go far with Olav Kooij. I dropped him off for that plug street in Gent-Wevelgem and when he fell, he was the only one still on Pedersen's wheel with Jasper Philipsen.'

We started with the question of how you viewed Decathlon AG2R over the past ten years, but how will the team be viewed in three years' time?
‘Then we'll be talking about a different team here.’