Picnic-PostNL boost 2026 squad with British climber James Knox

Picnic-PostNL have made their first three confirmed signings for the 2026 season, with longstanding British climbing domestique James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep) one of a trio of new names inking a contract with the Dutch squad.

Apart from Knox, team trainee Dillon Corkery and Picnic-PostNL’s development team rider Oliver Peace will also be forming part of the team in 2025.

Knox turned pro in 2018, and although never taking a win to date, has become well-established as a leading support rider in the mountains, with nine Grand Tours in his palmares to date, all bar one completed. He most recently raced the Giro d’Italia in 2025, finishing 19th.

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“What drew me to Picnic-PostNL is the opportunity to join a team with a proven track record at the highest level, and to work with talented young riders like fellow Brits Oscar Onley and Max Poole,” Knox said in a team press release.

Knox will be joined by fellow Briton Oliver Peace in the men’s senior squad. After two seasons in the team’s development program and a racer in the Tour de l’Avenir with the GB national squad, the 20-year-old all-rounder is expected to boost the WorldTour team’s stage racing presence. He has already done that in the recently completed Tour de Langkawi, where he took part in a break of over 100 kilometres on the last stage.

“Oliver is gifted both in climbing and time trialling, a combination that gives him the tools to grow into a GC rider over the coming years,” Picnic-PostNL’s head coach Rudi Kemna added.

“Initially, he will play an important support role in stage races, but we will give him every opportunity to continue developing the endurance, racing craft and consistency needed for the WorldTour.”

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Ireland’s Dillon Corkery, the third signing announced by Picnic-PostNL for 2026, already has considerable experience racing at amateur and continental levels in France. Riding for St Michel-Preference Home – Auber ’93, the 26-year-old has scored some top ten finishes in 1.1 and 1.Pro races this year, prior to making his debut at the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen as a trainee for Picnic-PostNL this September. Next January, he’ll be racing for the squad full-time.

“I’m especially excited to play a role in races I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, like the Classics and maybe even a Grand Tour. I would describe myself as a punchy rider who loves a fast finish and can support our sprinters when it counts,” Corkery said.

Kemna added: “Dillon is a rider who has developed a little later, but his instincts for positioning and timing in a sprint are exceptional and immediately strengthen our Classics and lead-out group.

“We believe he has the raw qualities to become a key part of our sprint train while we help him explore the harder one-day races and discover exactly where his strengths can shine.”

The three signings are the first confirmed new contracts for Picnic-PostNL for 2025. Those no longer present with the team include Romain Bardet, who retired mid-season, Kevin Vermaercke, set for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and Tobias Lund Andresen, racing at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.