"If you’re stressing the whole time..." - Time is running short for Visma rider who is looking to avoid retirement

Team Visma | Lease a Bike is a team stacked with top talent from top to bottom and just being part of it requires a very high level. Julien Vermote didn't make the cut and is looking for a contract into the 2026 season. But at the time being, nothing is signed or assured.

“You always know it’s the team that ultimately decides, but it was a bit of a surprise. Everybody at the team said they were happy with me, performance-wise and everything, but they had to take some decisions," Vermote said in words to Domestique. "I felt good in the team, and I felt I had value for the team, but they’re taking younger guys. But they were also correct with me. They didn’t make me wait that long, the communication was correct, and I appreciate that from their side.”

Vermote was signed on a two-year stint and managed to deliver on the expectations the team had of him, jumping from amateur levels - where he found himself after not securing a contract for the 2023 season - straight into the very top of the cycling world. A reliable workhorse and experienced rouleur, Vermote kept several of Visma's leaders safe throughout 2024 and 2025.

And the veteran is certain he can continue thriving in this task. "If I want to continue next year, it’s because I’m still convinced about my value, I still know I can do something and I still have the passion. But if you’re stressing the whole time, then you don’t switch off and your performance will be less the following year.

However it is not the third time the Belgian enters November, where most World Tour riders are enjoying a well-deserved time away from the bike and trying to relax, stressed about his future.

“The second time (looking for a contract last-minute, ed.), it was also crazy because I went to amateur level again, but I was really locked in, and I was kind of convinced that something would come of it. But both times taught me a lot of lessons in life. In cycling, you think you’re part of a big group, but then when you’re out, you’re out…"

“My goal isn’t just to be a rider next year. I still want to be a rider, but I want to be a good rider. I don’t want to be a cyclist just to be a cyclist, I want to add value to a team, and I believe that I can.” But there are less top teams in the Belgian market now with the merger of Intermarché - Wanty and Lotto, both of which could've on paper been his new team.

But he finds a different problem this time around, in a cycling that often values UCI points more than ever before. “The smaller teams are looking for young riders to score some points, whereas in bigger teams, they have a leader and they want to give him some support. So I think my value is more for the bigger teams".

"They know I have experience and they can use me in races across the whole season. I’m more consistent now than I was in my younger years, and you can’t blame young riders for not being consistent," he adds. "I just think you need a good mix, so you need experienced riders that can guide the young guys and give them advice.”

But signing for a continental team at this point in his career is now what he looks for, taking into consideration his skillset. “No, I won’t do this. In theory, it would be possible, but that was a different time in my life. If I continue, I want to do it at a proper level, and not do it just to keep myself busy. Because there are enough different things in life I can do, there’s another life besides cycling. With my brother, we have like a sports medical centre in Kortrijk, and I have a bike shop with my brother and my brother-in-law, so there are different things to do when it is over," he concluded.