From key Van Aert domestique to contractless in May: Former Visma, Alpecin and Quick-Step classics specialist still without a team as clock ticks on his career

Twelve months ago, Julien Vermote was lining up in the biggest races of the spring, riding Strade Bianche, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege as a trusted domestique for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, working in support of riders such as Wout van Aert. Now, as the 2026 season moves into May, Vermote finds himself without a contract and watching the races that once defined his role pass by.

The 36-year-old has still not secured a deal for the current campaign after his Visma contract expired at the end of last season and was not renewed. For Vermote, it marks the third time in five years that he has been left without a team, a pattern that underlines just how precarious his position in the modern peloton has become.

That reality is sharpened by timing. A classics specialist by trade, Vermote’s most natural window has already closed. While others fought for results across the cobbles and Ardennes, he was left on the outside, training alone and waiting for an opportunity that has yet to arrive.

“There have been a few conversations in recent months. I had hoped to be further along by now, but in the end nothing has come of it,” Vermote said in conversation with Krant van West Vlaanderen.

Despite the uncertainty, Vermote has continued to prepare as though a return remains possible. The approach has been simple: stay ready, just in case a team needs an experienced hand at short notice. “If they call me tomorrow, I am, so to speak, available the day after,” he explained.

It is not a new situation for Vermote. After a spell with Cofidis, he previously spent months without a contract before eventually joining Alpecin Fenix in 2021. More recently, when a deal did not materialise for 2023, Vermote took matters into his own hands, setting up his own structure, finding sponsors and racing primarily on the kermesse circuit to keep his career alive.

That persistence ultimately led Vermote back to the WorldTour. In December 2023, he was handed an unexpected route into Team Visma | Lease a Bike following the retirement of Lennard Hofstede, stepping straight into one of the strongest teams in the sport. Vermote repaid that faith with a full spring campaign in 2024, operating once again in the role that has defined his career, controlling races, positioning leaders and doing the unseen work that allows others to fight for victory.

Visma extended Vermote’s contract for a further season, a sign that his contribution had been valued internally. Yet by the end of 2025, the team had moved in a different direction, opting to refresh its support group with younger riders and leaving Vermote searching for options once more.

There have been small reminders of Vermote’s standing within the sport. Patrick Lefevere, the man with whom he began his professional career, helped facilitate appearances in two races in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, offering a brief return to the peloton. “It was nice to be able to do that together with Patrick. We enjoyed it. I started my professional career with him and then had many good years with him,” Vermote said.

But as the weeks pass, the broader picture becomes harder to ignore. At 36, without a contract and with the spring classics already gone, the opportunities that best suit Vermote’s skillset are no longer there. Teams are increasingly looking towards younger, developing riders to fill domestique roles, reducing the space for experienced specialists to find late deals.

For now, Vermote continues to train and wait, holding onto the possibility that a call will still come. Whether that call arrives in time is another question entirely.