Launching their new-look, big-budget team in Lille on Thursday, Decathlon CMA CGM laid out their grand ambitions for 2026, which include winning one of the five Monuments, finishing top five at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, and targeting the green jersey at the Tour de France.
2026 will be a year of further transformation for Decathlon CMA CGM, who have already been growing rapidly since the arrival of Decathlon, but are taking another step up – in terms of budget, ambitions and riders – next season with logistics giant CMA CGM coming onboard.
The new title sponsor has reportedly upped the team's budget from €30 million to €40 million, and has seen them sign riders like Olav Kooij, Tiesj Benoot and Matthew Riccitello as they take aim at Monument and Grand Tour victories.
As part of their new, bigger-budget era, Decathlon CMA CGM also laid out plans to launch a women's team, but this is expected to be for the 2027 season.
As still a French team, the ultimate goal is to win the Tour de France – with young home star Paul Seixas a long-term project for the team – but for 2026 they're focusing their GC ambitions on the other Grand Tours, whilst the aim at the Tour will be to win the green jersey.
"On the Grand Tours, our ambitions are also strong: to achieve top-five finishes in the general classification and demonstrate consistently that the highest level will be at the Giro and at the Vuelta," said general manager Dominique Serieys at the team's launch, pointing to Felix Gall and Matthew Riccitello as leaders for those two Grand Tours.
"With the recruitment of a top sprinter, and also not only Olav Kooij but with his teammates and staff, we have the major and symbolic objective to conquer the green jersey at the Tour de France," he added.
Though Kooij will be a debutant at the Tour – with the lack of opportunities there part of the reason why he left Visma-Lease a Bike – Decathlon have put a lot into the sprint project, recruiting riders like Cees Bol and Daan Hoole to support him, as well as Mark Cavendish's former teammate and sprint coach Mark Renshaw.
Sprinting and GC racing are things the team have certainly focused on before, so perhaps the biggest change in their goals for 2026 lies in one-day racing.
"The five Monuments are the major pillar of our sporting project, we want to race with the objective of a top-five result at Paris-Roubaix – this is also in the DNA of Van Rysel [their bike sponsor] – and go for a victory in one of the big Monuments as early in the season [as possible]," Serieys said.
To this end, they have recruited Belgium's Tiesj Benoot, and can look to riders like Oliver Naesen, Stefan Bissegger and Paul Seixas, with the latter becoming the youngest top-10 finisher in a Monument in 100 years at Il Lombardia this autumn.
My view
"We are approaching this season with clear ambitions, but also we have to stay humble, and to respect our competitors. [We want to] establish ourselves in the world's top five teams, and demonstrate that the Decathlon CMA CGM team has the means to race at the front and on all types of terrains with ambition," Serieys said.
"We are ready to take another step forward, and elevate the team ambitions to the highest level."
Kooij for the Tour, Seixas to be confirmed
With winning the green jersey laid out as their goal, it seems like the Tour de France team is going to be largely built around Kooij and sprinting efforts, rather than a GC campaign, but there is a possibility that young climber Paul Seixas could still make his debut in July.
Felix Gall, who finished fifth in the Tour this year, looks set to be diverted to the Giro instead in 2026, targeting another top-five finish there.
The team have already announced some of Seixas' schedule for 2026, up until May, but they are leaving the door open around the Tour, and that decision is likely to be made later in the year, with a Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España the other option.
Naturally, Seixas was asked about the Tour during the presentation, but kept his answer open-ended.
"It's a question of course. My dream is to be one day in the Tour, and we will see if it is this year or maybe the next," he said.
In any case, even if Seixas does make his Tour debut next summer, the pressure will be slightly lifted, as his role would be more free alongside the team's sprinting ambitions, rather than an all-out focus on him and the GC.
The team also unveiled their new jersey on Thursday morning, adding a splash of red to their blue and aquamarine colourway from 2025.
