TOUR·KINETIC

Soudal Quick-Step · 2026 Tour de France
Climber — mountain-stage hunter and polka-dot jersey contender
Valentin Paret-Peintre

France's darling of the 2025 Tour, Paret-Peintre delivered the home nation's first win of that race with an unforgettable victory atop Mont Ventoux — the first Frenchman to win there since 2002.

Valentin Paret-Peintre paper-collage portrait in the 2026 Soudal Quick-Step kit

France's darling of the 2025 Tour, Paret-Peintre delivered the home nation's first win of that race with an unforgettable victory atop Mont Ventoux — the first Frenchman to win there since 2002. The featherweight climber from Annemasse has openly targeted mountain stages and the polka-dot jersey this July. At 25, he is the youngest rider on the squad and its brightest hope in the high mountains.

Palmarès

  • Tour de France stage winner on Mont Ventoux (2025)
  • Giro d'Italia stage 10 winner (2024)
  • 2nd overall + stage winner, Tour of Oman (2025)
  • 4th overall Volta a Catalunya (2026)
Cut-out factCycling runs in the family: his father Olivier is president of Vélo Club Annemasse and his older brother Aurélien — also a Giro stage winner — races for Decathlon AG2R, making them one of the peloton's great sibling acts.

The squad

Riding the 2026 Tour with Tim Merlier, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Jasper Stuyven, Dylan van Baarle, Bert Van Lerberghe, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke — see the full Soudal Quick-Step team page.

Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2) after a reference photograph — source: cdn-s-www.ledauphine.com, author: see source, license: see source. A fan project — not affiliated with the Tour de France or A.S.O.