Dutch sprinter Mike Teunissen has finally signed for Astana Qazaqstan after Visma-Lease a Bike reportedly pulled out late from an agreement in July to sign the Intermarché-Wanty rider for 2025.
Teunissen, 32, was due to offer up his expert lead-out skills for Olav Kooij at Visma in the coming seasons as his career nears an end. However, according to WielerFlits, who broke the news on Tuesday. he was forced to re-enter the transfer market and find a new team just last month.
Having turned pro in 2015 for LottoNL-Jumbo, a previous iteration of Visma, and won the opening stage of the 2019 Tour de France, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to rejoin forces, with the performance staff also looking forward to having Teunissen back.
"Mike Teunissen is also coming back, I don't know if it was a secret but I think it was already mentioned," said Visma DS Frans Maassen to Cyclingnews in September, before the reported deal fell through.
"I think it's a really important one for Olav [Kooij] in the next years so yeah, I think we're getting very good guys who make us stronger."
With Visma off the table, there was still great interest in Teunissen. The Dutchman has proved his worth as a lead-out in the past two seasons working for Biniam Girmay at Intermarché-Wanty and contributing to the Eritrean's historic haul of three stage wins at this year's Tour.
In search of UCI points, as the next relegation cycle from the WorldTour enters its final year of three in 2025, Astana have brought in Teunissen on a two-season deal to bolster both the Classics squad and given Mark Cavendish' imminent retirement also possibly sprint for himself.
“With Mike Teunissen joining the team, we will strengthen our classics group and form the core for the spring. It’s no secret that in recent years, we haven’t performed very well in these races, so we’ll try to change that," said team manager Alexander Vinokourov.
"Teunissen is a strong domestique, but he is also capable of achieving results on his own in sprints, especially on challenging terrain."
Teunissen is one of nine new signings on Astana Qazaqstan for 2025, alongside Nicola Conci, Aaron Gate, Sergio Higuita, Florian Samuel Kajamini, Wout Poels, Alessandro Romele, Diego Ulissi and Darren van Bekkum, with Alberto Bettiol also joining mid-season in 2024.
"This is a big challenge for me, and I’m looking forward to joining this project, which is both old and new at the same time, but with great ambitions," said Teunissen in a press release.
"On the one hand, Astana Qazaqstan is a completely new team for me, but I believe I can integrate quite easily, as there are already a few Dutch riders in the team. Now there will be one more."
2025 will be a huge year for Astana Qazaqstan and their incoming new sponsor XDS Carbon-Tech, the Chinese carbon product manufacturer hoping to make significant long-term changes and establish itself as a major player in the WorldTour.
Vinokourov's team are in dire need of points from the likes of Teunissen next year, however, as they currently sit in 21st and just under 5000 UCI points away from the top 18 team positions that will make up the WorldTour from 2026.
