Visma | Lease a Bike secures French powerhouse for 2026 Roster: "A unique opportunity in my career"

The 31-year-old Armirail comes from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, where he landed in 2024 after just over six years with Groupama-FDJ. He won twice with his team in the past two seasons, as the Frenchman became national time trial champion both this year and last year. He achieved all four of his professional victories in that discipline.

Amirail is the fifth signing for the Killer Bees for next year. The team will transfer Mattio Pietro and Tim Rex from the development team in the winter, while it has also signed two riders from outside the team, Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani) and Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

A few riders are heading in the opposite direction: Olav Kooij and Tiesj Benoot both opted for the ambitious project at Decathlon CMA CGM, Attila Valter chose Bahrain Victorious, and Dylan van Baarle ventured into a new adventure at Soudal Quick-Step.

“This is a unique opportunity in my career to race for one of the best teams in the world,” Armirail himself said about his transfer. “I want to challenge myself by changing environment and race for a foreign team for the first time. I'm also looking forward to being part of a team that can compete for victory in nearly every race.”

Clear agreements have been made with the Frenchman. “I expect to play an important support role in the major races, but I also hope to keep improving in time trials, on climbs, and in controlling breakaways.”

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann is full of praise for the new signing. “He’s suitable for all terrains,” said Niermann. “He brings a lot of experience and clearly has a big engine. But we believe that within our professional environment, he can still take further steps in his development,” said the German.