Another Intermarché merger victim found a WorldTour lifeline

The 2026 roster of Picnic PostNL is coming together with the most recent signing of Alexy Faure-Prost. The 21-year-old promise of French cycling joins from Intermarché - Wanty after two seasons during which he wasn't quite able to show off his undeniable climbing potential due to health problems. With a one-year contract offered by the Dutch WorldTour formation, this could well be Faure-Prost's last opportunity to prove his place is in the top cycling division.

"I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter with Team Picnic PostNL," Faure-Prost begins in a team press release. "From the outside the team seems to work in a structure that I like, and that was solidified in my talks with them; I think they can get the best out of me."

The Frenchman was one of the breakthrough names in 2023. As a first-year under-23 rider, Faure-Prost finished second on top of the mythical Passo dello Stelvio during Giro Next Gen, was 2nd overall at the Giro della Valle d'Aosta and went on to become the French under-23 champion. Intermarché - Wanty could not ignore the potential displayed by one of their development team riders, and didn't hesitate to promote the 19-year-old to WorldTour for 2024 season.

Faure-Prost started off his debut professional season with a top-10 overall at the Tour of Oman and everything indicated that the Frenchman was on the right trajectory to become one of the team's GC leaders in foreseeable future. But things were about to take a turn to worse very soon.

Persistent health issues prevented the young rider from coming even close to his potential for the remained of his contract at Intermarché - Wanty. And what the time came for the team to merge with Lotto at the end of the 2025 season, Faure-Prost wasn't far from considering a retirement. That was until he was offered a lifeline by Picnic PostNL.

"After a few tough years with injuries and some health problems, I am back to feeling good again and motivated for this fresh start. Cycling is my passion and luckily for me it is also my job, so I want to give 100 percent every day to be the best version of myself; whether that be going for a result or helping one of the guys in the team to a win. With Team Picnic PostNL I would love to get back to being animator of races in the elite peloton," the Frenchman concluded.

At the Dutch team, he's been offered one last chance to re-start his career. A one-year contract through 2026. All or nothing. With several riders taking a step up from lower cycling divisions with Picnic PostNL in 2026 (Timo de Jong, Dillion Corkery, Mattia Gaffuri or Frits Biesterbos), there will be many men looking to prove themselves in a unique opportunity to race in WorldTour, and Faure-Prost will have to find his own footing in a group that will be hungry to perform at any given opportunity.