Dutch sprinter Mike Tunissen has finally signed with Astana Kazakstan after Visma Lease-a-Bike reportedly pulled out of its 2025 Intermarke Wanty deal late in July.

The 32-year-old Tunisen had planned to provide expert readout skills for Olaf Kooij at Visma next season as his career neared its end. However, according to WielerFlits, which broke the news on Tuesday, he was forced to re-enter the transfer market last month to find a new team.

Having turned pro in 2015 with Visma's predecessor, Lotto NL Jumbo, and winning the opening stage of the 2019 Tour de France, the performance staff was looking forward to Tunissen's return and it seemed like the perfect time to rejoin.

“Mike Tunisen is coming back too. I don't know if it's a secret or not, but I think it was already talked about,” France Maassen, Visma's DS, told Cycling News in September, before the reported deal fell through.

“For Olaf [Couey], I think he's one of the really important ones in the next few years.

Even after Wisma's departure, there was a great deal of interest in Tunissen. The Dutchman has proven his worth as a leadout, working for Biniam Girmay at Intermarché Wanty for the past two seasons and helping the Eritrean win a historic three stages at this year's Tour.

With the next WorldTour relegation cycle entering its third and final year in 2025 in search of UCI points, Astana brought in Tunissen on a two-season deal to bolster his own sprint with the Classics team and Mark Cavendish's impending retirement.

“With Mike Tunissen joining our team, we will strengthen our Classics group and form the core of our spring. It's no secret that we haven't done very well in these races in the last few years, and we want to change that,” said team manager Alexander Vinokurov.

“Tunisen is a strong domestique, but he can also deliver results in sprints, especially on difficult terrain.

Tunissen joins Nicolas Consi, Aaron Gate, Sergio Iguita, Florian Samuel Cajamini, Wout Poels, Alessandro Romere, Diego Ulissi, and Darren van Beckham as the newest members of the Astana Kazakstan 2025 Alberto Bettiol will also join the club mid-season in 2024.

“This is a great challenge for me and I look forward to joining this project, which is old and new and at the same time holds great ambitions,” Tunissen said in a press release.

“On the one hand, Astana Kazakstan is a completely new team for me, but I believe that I will easily fit in, as there are already several Dutch riders on the team. There will be one more rider.”

2025 will be a big year for Astana Kazakstan and their new sponsor, XDS Carbontech.

Vinokourov's team will need to get points from the likes of Tunissen next year, but they are currently in 21st place and are less than 5,000 points away from a position in the top 18 teams that will make up the World Tour starting in 2026.