The future of the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team continues to be uncertain as a second rider under contract for 2025 has opted to move to a different team. EF Education-EasyPost announced the arrival of Vincenzo Albanese from the French team.
Last month, Clément Champoussin exited his contract early to sign with Astana Qazaqstan, now Albanese has made a similar move.
Albanese was Arkéa-B&B Hotels' third-best points scorer behind Luca Mozzato and Kévin Vauquelin, raking in 935 points through a series of top results including podiums in the Memorial Marco Pantani, Prueba Villafranca and the Tour des Alpes.
"I'm very happy to become a part of this team," Albanese said. "And I'm very, very motivated for next year. I will do my best."
Albanese is a consistent performer but has only one victory as a professional from 2022 when he attacked to win ahead of the bunch sprint on stage 4 of the Tour du Limousin.
"My best, most beautiful cycling moment so far came two years ago when I won at the Tour du Limousin in France. I attacked in the last kilometer and arrived alone with five or six seconds on the main group. I will never forget that last kilometer. I want to win more races," Albanese added.
"For me, this will be the first time I will have the chance to race for a very big team. It will be a great experience, and I want to make the most of it. I am excited to join an American team and about our program and the trust that the team has put in me for the next year."
Albanese, 27, began his professional career with Bardiani-CSF in 2017 and from 2021-2023 he raced with the Eolo-Kometa team before joining the WorldTour this year with Arkéa.
"My very big dream for next year is to ride the Tour," Albanese said. "I have done the Giro, so the big goal this year is to make it to the Tour. I would love to do the Tour, win a race, and ride well at the classics."
Albanese's ability to score points will be key in keeping the team in the WorldTour at the end of the three-year promotion/relegation cycle in 2025.
The team's CEO Jonathan Vaughters believes the Italian has results on the horizon, saying, "Vincenzo Albanese is a very consistent racer who can earn results for us from the start to the end of the year.
"He has the strength to make it into the finales of the big Classics and mix it up in hard Grand Tour bunch sprints. Our younger riders are going to learn a ton from his racecraft. Vincenzo knows how to keep a cool head when it gets chaotic in the peloton and put down his power when it counts. We think he is knocking on the door of a big win."
