The rider

Tiesj Benoot is the road brain Decathlon bought for the part of cycling that cannot be solved by budget alone. After four seasons as a trusted guardian in the Visma-Lease a Bike system, he stepped into a French project that needs his experience as much as his legs. The roster around him is exciting but young: Paul Seixas and Matthew Riccitello bring enormous climbing promise, while Kooij brings a green-jersey sprint project. Benoot is the rider who can make those separate ambitions coexist on the road.

His own career has always sat between categories. He is a classics rider with stage-race intelligence, a breakaway threat who can also bury himself for a leader, and a rider calm enough to solve positioning problems before they become visible. That versatility is essential in week one, where Decathlon must protect a teenage French GC hope, guide a young American climber, and still prepare sprint finales for Kooij. Benoot's decisions in the bunch may matter more than any one result next to his name.

There is also a cultural role. A team with a big-money makeover can look loud from the outside, but on the road it needs someone who knows how the best Tour teams behave under pressure. Benoot brings that from Visma. He knows the habits of a yellow-jersey train, the value of not panicking after small setbacks, and the cost of one lazy kilometre before a crosswind. For Decathlon, he is not a nostalgia signing. He is the operating system.