In a hotel in Spain, Marion Bunel sits down on a chair. Along with the rest of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, she is on a training camp to begin preparations for 2026, after a year that saw her take a big step.Despite only turning 21 in October, Bunel was a constant force to be reckoned with throughout the 2025 season. The French climber won multiple white jerseys, took stage wins and GC podiums, and climbed with the best from Amstel Gold Race to the Tour de France Femmes and all the way to Rwanda.

Beside her, Viktória Chladoňová takes a seat. At just 19 years of age, the Slovakian champion on the road and in cyclocross is the youngest member of the team, but just like Bunel, she already mixes it up with the best riders in the world. Coming straight from the junior category, most would think a few years of adaptation would be necessary for Chladoňová, but instead she went straight to work with two Grand Tours, a few national championship wins, a wealth of top-10s, and two silver medals at the U23 World Championships in Rwanda.

Both riders have made impressive progress within just one year on the team.

“The team develops young riders really well. I made progress with nutrition, performance, and tactics, and therefore I could show myself at the Worlds and throughout the season,” Chladoňová opens the conversation.

“It was a big step from the juniors, but I learned a lot in the Grand Tours and from my teammates like Marianne and Pauline. In the beginning, I felt a bit lost in the peloton, but in every race my teammates and the coaches helped me figure out what my role was and how I could help my leaders.”

Bunel quickly follows up. During the summer, she raced the biggest race in the world alongside both Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, helping them to stage victories and, of course, the overall triumph. She even played a vital role on the queen stage to the Col de la Madeleine, where she acted as a satellite rider for Ferrand-Prévot, who joined her on the slopes of the Madeleine and sat on her wheel before dropping her final competitor. Being in top shape for a race like the Tour de France might sound easy, but it’s not possible without help from others.

“I really feel the team around me - both the staff and the girls. And it makes a big difference to have riders like Marianne and Pauline with us. The coaches have helped me realize what kind of bike rider I am, and they’ve helped me find goals and reach them. They also give you motivation when you have a difficult moment, and then we enjoy the good moments together. You never feel alone here,” Bunel says.

Both riders are quick to highlight the importance of having a team around them in these early years at the WorldTour. But turning a large group of people, from staff to riders, into a real team is something that takes work. That work began at the annual team day near the end of 2024, when everyone at Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women came together to get to know each other better, Bunel points out. 

“We learned to trust each other from that day. I felt really comfortable, and that gave me confidence. The team culture makes it feel like a second family, and the atmosphere with the staff is great, which motivates us to push even harder. Everybody takes care of each other and wants to improve together. That’s one of the strengths of the team.”

“We are open, honest, and we respect each other. Everybody here is part of the family, and everybody understands each other. It also helps that we truly believe we have the best equipment, the best advice, and the best training methods,” Chladoňová adds.

Soon, the 2026 season will knock on the door, and it will be time to pin on the numbers again. After their successes in 2025, more eyes will certainly be on Chladoňová and Bunel to deliver results, but that’s not something to dwell on, Chladoňová says. Instead, the important thing is to continue developing different aspects of their qualities on the bike.

“I don’t feel any pressure from the team, but of course there are things I want to get better at. My positioning skills, explosiveness, and sprinting, for example. I’d also like to improve on long climbs, so I want to do more altitude training, because that could really help me. Taking a win somewhere would be nice, but mostly I want to step out of my comfort zone and really push myself to the limit in races,” she says.

For Bunel, 2026 will be about applying the lessons learned in 2025, while still prioritizing performance and improvement over results.

“Last year was about discovering the team, how to work together, and what the WorldTour bunch is like. I had to learn a lot about nutrition and positioning as well. Next season, I want to mark a few races on the calendar and reach those races in top shape. That could be the Ardennes. I think I could do well in Flèche Wallonne if I prepare myself perfectly. But of course, going for the GC in a Grand Tour is my long-term goal, so I also want to continue working on that. If we reach our goals as a team, 2026 will be a success,” Bunel concludes.