Pavel Sivakov will leave UAE Team Emirates XRG to join Decathlon CMA CGM in 2027, signing a three-year agreement that will keep the French rider with the squad through 2029. The 29-year-old arrives after three seasons working alongside Tadej Pogačar, bringing experience from Grand Tours and major one-day races to a team increasingly shaped around the emergence of Paul Seixas.
Decathlon confirmed the transfer on Tuesday, describing Sivakov as an experienced addition whose knowledge of racing at the highest level will strengthen its wider project. His arrival has been anticipated since March, when French reports linked the former INEOS rider with a move to the team, but the announcement now establishes both his destination and the length of the agreement.
Sivakov has spent much of his recent career riding in support of established leaders, though his own results show he can also compete for stage-race classifications. He won the Vuelta a Andalucía in 2025 and finished ninth overall at the 2024 Vuelta a España, having earlier taken major week-long titles during his time with Team Sky and INEOS Grenadiers.
From Pogačar’s support group to Seixas’s developing team
Sivakov joined UAE Team Emirates for 2024 after six seasons with the Sky and INEOS organisation. The transfer placed him in one of the deepest climbing groups in the professional peloton, where his principal role was frequently to protect Pogačar and help make difficult mountain stages even harder for rival teams.
He was part of the support group for Pogačar’s Tour de France victories in 2024 and 2025. Rather than preserving his own position in the general classification, Sivakov was often required to set a demanding pace, follow dangerous moves or work before the final attacks. His contribution was therefore not always visible in his individual stage results.
The move to Decathlon offers a similar opportunity within a very different team structure. Seixas has progressed rapidly in 2026, adding victory at Il Lombardia to his reputation as one of the most exciting young riders in the sport. Decathlon are assembling experienced climbers around him while continuing to develop options for races where more than one rider might take responsibility.
Sivakov already knows Seixas from the French national team, including recent World and European Championships. His ability to read the mountain stages, communicate within a leading group and manage the demands of a three-week race could be as valuable to the younger rider as his climbing strength. Seixas’s contract situation beyond 2027 remains separate from today’s announcement, however, so the signing should not be presented as confirmation of his longer-term plans.
Stage-race victories and a Grand Tour top ten
Sivakov was once regarded primarily as a general classification prospect. He won the under-23 Giro d’Italia in 2017, then stepped up to Team Sky for 2018. The following season brought overall victories at the Tour of the Alps and Tour de Pologne, as well as ninth place in his first Giro d’Italia, results that suggested he could become a regular contender in major stage races.
He later won the 2022 Vuelta a Burgos and the 2023 Giro della Toscana, showing he could still make the most of opportunities outside a support role. During his first season at UAE in 2024, Sivakov finished ninth overall at the Vuelta a España and sixth at Il Lombardia. That combination illustrates why Decathlon are interested: he has the endurance for sustained climbing over three weeks, but can also handle selective one-day finishes.
The 2025 campaign provided a further reminder of his ability to win. Sivakov took the Vuelta a Andalucía overall in February and finished second at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec in September. He was also runner-up at the Giro del Veneto and part of France’s silver-medal mixed relay squad at the World Championships.
His 2026 campaign did not produce another overall victory, but he remained involved at the front of important races. He finished 18th at the European Championships and closed the season with third at the Veneto Classic behind Brandon McNulty and Anthon Charmig. At the Vuelta a España, he was again part of the UAE squad before abandoning on stage 13.
Photo Credit: GettyDecathlon add another Grand Tour option for 2027
The French team have also confirmed Ben O’Connor’s return for 2027 and 2028 after two seasons at Jayco AlUla. That signing brings back a former Vuelta runner-up and Tour de France stage winner, while Sivakov adds another climber who has already been trusted with major support responsibilities in a Tour-winning team.
The two arrivals should give Decathlon greater flexibility over their race programmes. O’Connor has experience of leading Grand Tour challenges, Sivakov has both ridden for his own classification results and worked for Pogačar, and Seixas is developing quickly into a rider with ambitions at the sport’s biggest events. Having those different options could allow the squad to share leadership across races instead of committing every major objective to one rider.
It will also be important not to judge Sivakov’s arrival solely by whether he wins races of his own. His most recent years at UAE have been shaped by the work he did before the decisive attacks, which helps explain why a rider with his record can remain valuable even without frequent victories. Decathlon will need that kind of experience if it wants to challenge the strongest climbing teams more consistently.
The three-year agreement gives Sivakov a place in the squad through the end of 2029, well beyond the immediate 2027 transfer cycle. Having worked for one of cycling’s most successful Grand Tour leaders, his next challenge will be applying that experience within a French team trying to turn a rapidly improving young contender into a consistent force in the biggest races.
