Reigning junior time trial world champion Megan Arens made a surprise mid-season switch this week from Picnic-PostNL to AG Insurance-Soudal. The move was announced by the Belgian team, which said it was a mutual agreement between the two Women's WorldTour programmes.
"The 19-year-old Dutch rider joins the squad with immediate effect from Team Picnic PostNL and will continue her career in the colours of AG Insurance-Soudal Team," the statement read.
"The move has been completed by mutual agreement with Team Picnic PostNL, allowing Megan to embrace a new chapter in her career."
Arens, who turned 19 in March, rode with two different Dutch club teams as a 17-18 junior, earning spots on the national team for Road World Championships both years. In her Worlds debut in 2024, Arens had top 10s in both the time trial and road race. Then last year rode a dominant time trial to win the rainbow jersey by 35 seconds, and followed with a UCI junior victory at Chrono des Nations.
She jumped into elite races this year with Picnic-PostNL, earning a most aggressive award on the opening stage at Itzulia Women and riding to seventh on the final stage at Tour de Suisse Women, and in both races was third in the youth classification.
"I’m really excited about joining AG Insurance-Soudal, and I’m very grateful to the team’s management for giving me this opportunity," Arens said.
"Watching the team perform at the Tour de France Femmes has once again shown me what a strong and ambitious team it is. I’m looking forward to being part of this group, continuing to develop and hopefully contributing to many great results together in the biggest races and Grand Tours in the years ahead."
Two months ago, AG Insurance-Soudal added 25-year-old cyclo-cross rider Amandine Fouquenet to the roster. She had previously raced on the road for Arkéa-B&B Hotels for six seasons, scoring a number of top 10s in one-day races at her home Bretagne Ladies Tour stage race.
Fouquenet will be on the Tour of Britain Women start list, while it was not yet known where Arens would make her first appearance for her new team. Both riders show potential as the French squad looks to develop young talent.
"We're very pleased to welcome Megan to our team. She has already shown that she is a rider with a lot of talent and potential, and we believe she fits perfectly within our philosophy of developing young riders," said Jurgen Foré, general manager of AG Insurance-Soudal.
"Over the past few years, we've built an environment where riders can grow step by step, and we're convinced Megan has everything she needs to continue that progression with us."
Cyclingnews will cover all of the 2026 cycling transfers from around the men's and women's pelotons with news, analysis, and an updated transfer index, to make sure you don't miss a thing this transfer season.
