The exodus of talents from Arkéa - B&B Hotels is in full swing. After the expectable depratures of talented climbers Kevin Vauquelin, Raul Garcia Pierna, or Embret Svestad-Bardseng, another name has been confirmed to be on their way to a new home in 2026. The 24-year-old Martin Tjotta will strengthen Norwegian team Uno-X Mobility - a return to his homeland after Tjotta left Norway in pursuit of his professional career three years ago.
The Norwegian rider took a gamble in the middle of 2022 season when he packed his stuff and travelled to France to join amateur team Bourg-en-Bresse, but the gamble had paid off massively. Only 12 months later, the rising talent was spotted by Arkea who brought Tjotta on a traineeship. And after a season with their development team, Tjotta made a professional debut with the French team at the age of 23.
Already in his first professional season, Tjotta was nominated for Giro d'Italia where he impressed with strong climbing performances.
With Arkéa in danger of disbanding, all riders were allowed to look for a new team and Tjotta who had a contract through 2026 at the time was no exception. But luckily for him, Uno-X Mobility stepped in and so Tjotta has secured himself a three-year contract with the team where he'll have further opportunities to grow next to riders such as Tobias Halland Johannessen - 6th at recent Tour de France.
Managing Director Thor Hushovd believes Tjøtta is ready to take the next step in his career: "Martin is a rider who deserves investment. After two seasons at Arkéa, I am convinced he can become a successful climber with us. Thanks to the performance environment we are building at Uno-X, I am confident Martin can make great progress."
Now ready to return to a Scandinavian team, Tjøtta is delighted with the decision: "I'm happy to be joining Uno-X Mobility. I have a lot of respect for the team's performance team, and I think they can take me to the next level. Joining a Scandinavian team with friends I grew up racing with will also be great."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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