Clément Venturini will join Lotto-Intermarché for the 2027 season after signing a two-year contract through to the end of 2028.
The 32-year-old Frenchman will move across from Unibet Rose Rockets and is expected to return to a more clearly defined puncheur role, targeting hilly one-day races while also bringing experience to a Lotto squad that continues to change ahead of next season.
The transfer has effectively been more than a year in the making. Venturini revealed that he was already in discussions with Lotto-Intermarché CEO Jean-François Bourlart in 2025, only for the merger between Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto Cycling Team to leave the newly combined squad without space for him.
“I really thought the story was over, but here we are,” Venturini said. “We always stayed in touch. The fact that I can now, a year later, still sign for Lotto-Intermarché makes it even more special.”
Photo Credit: GettyVenturini wants to race as a puncheur again
Venturini’s move is built around getting back to the type of racing that has suited him best throughout his career.
He specifically identified Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race as races where he wants to be competitive, but his value extends across the wider calendar of hilly one-day events and selective finishes.
“That’s my terrain,” he said of Brabantse Pijl and Amstel. “But I don’t only want to be there at those moments. There are plenty of races throughout the season where I can take my chance.”
Venturini sits somewhere between the traditional definitions of sprinter and Classics rider. He has a fast finish, but his better results often come after harder racing has reduced the size of the group. Repeated short climbs and selective finales give him more opportunity than a straightforward bunch sprint.
That should fit Lotto-Intermarché’s developing roster particularly well.
The team will lose Arnaud De Lie at the end of the 2026 season, removing the rider who has often been its obvious leader for tougher Belgian one-day races.
Venturini is not a direct replacement for De Lie, but his arrival gives Lotto another rider capable of taking responsibility rather than simply working until the decisive kilometres.
La Roue Tourangelle victory gave Venturini renewed confidence
Venturini also arrives after getting back to winning ways in 2026.
He won La Roue Tourangelle earlier this season, ending a long wait for another professional road victory and reinforcing his belief that he can still race for his own results rather than moving permanently into a support role.
“I hadn’t won for a few years, but this season I was able to taste victory again, at La Roue Tourangelle. That gives me confidence and, above all, a lot of motivation to build on that next year.”
That ambition is central to the move.
Venturini is not joining Lotto simply to add experience around younger riders. He wants results of his own and has explicitly identified collecting UCI points as one of his responsibilities.
“My ambition to perform myself is definitely still there. I want to achieve as many strong results as possible again and score important UCI points for the team.”
For a ProTeam, that consistency matters. A rider capable of accumulating placings across Belgian and French one-day races can contribute throughout the season rather than relying on one major result.
Experience will be part of his role
Venturini will also arrive with more than a decade of professional experience behind him.
He has raced at the highest level across the Classics, stage races and Grand Tours, while his cyclocross background adds another layer to a rider already comfortable in technical, attritional racing.
At 32, he is ready to use that experience around Lotto’s younger riders.
“I’m 32 now and have quite a few seasons in my legs. I’d like to take on that role as an adviser.”
It is a balance Lotto are increasingly looking for within the squad. Venturini will be expected to help younger teammates with positioning and race craft while still having the freedom to take opportunities himself.
Bourlart believes those two roles should complement each other.
“Clément is a rider we have wanted to bring to our team for quite some time. He is a very complete and experienced rider who can achieve results himself in tough races, but who can also be extremely valuable to the riders around him.”
The Lotto-Intermarché CEO also highlighted Venturini’s race intelligence and puncheur profile as qualities that were missing from parts of the current squad.
A move away from French teams
The transfer also represents a change in environment.
Venturini has spent almost his entire professional road career with French teams, moving through Cofidis, AG2R, Arkéa and most recently Unibet Rose Rockets.
He said his experience with the more international Unibet structure this season had made him increasingly comfortable with stepping outside that familiar French setting.
“I’ve noticed that I really appreciate that international environment. I enjoyed the different environment and different way of working last season.”
Lotto-Intermarché should still offer some familiarity. The Intermarché side of the merged organisation retains a strong French-speaking influence, while Venturini has known Bourlart since their first discussions over a possible transfer last year.
He also pointed to a much older memory of the Lotto organisation, recalling Tony Gallopin taking the Tour de France yellow jersey in 2014 while riding for Lotto-Belisol.
Lotto continue rebuilding around a broader group of leaders
Venturini becomes another experienced addition to a Lotto-Intermarché squad taking a noticeably different shape for 2027.
Juan Sebastián Molano will join from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, strengthening the sprint group, while the team has also been adding riders capable of operating more independently across the Classics and one-day calendar.
That approach becomes particularly important with De Lie leaving.
Rather than finding one rider to reproduce everything De Lie offered, Lotto appear to be spreading opportunities across a wider group. Venturini’s puncheur profile fits into that idea. He can target hilly Classics, chase results in smaller one-day races and provide tactical support when another rider is protected.
His signing also gives Lotto something it had already wanted a year earlier.
The merger delayed the move rather than ending it. Twelve months later, Venturini arrives with a fresh victory behind him and a clear idea of the rider he wants to be again.
The deal is the latest confirmed move in ProCyclingUK’s men’s cycling transfers hub, tracking the signings and departures shaping the 2027 peloton.
