It's seemingly never too early for the transfer rumour mill to begin churning out a few possible signings for next season, with Het Laaste Nieuws reporting that British allrounder Ben Turner may be quitting Ineos Grenadiers to strengthen Soudal-QuickStep's Classics line-up in 2027.
A notably versatile rider, Turner, 25, raced all of the major cobbled Classics this Spring from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad onwards, returning to Paris-Roubaix after suffering a spectacular crash in In Flanders Fields, which he later compared to doing a boxing round with Mike Tyson.
Part of Ineos Grenadiers since 2022, Turner has had ten participations across Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to date. However, his biggest success so far was when, as a last-minute addition to the Ineos Vuelta a España squad, he was the fastest in the peloton on a very hilly stage of the race last year. Earlier last summer, he also secured another bunch sprint victory in a crash-marred, undulating stage of the Tour de Pologne.
Soudal-Quick Step are in the process of overhauling their cobbled Classics line-up following the departure of Remco Evenepoel, most notably scoring a victory in Scheldeprijs with Tim Merlier – back from injury – and a third place in Paris-Roubaix with Jasper Stuyven.
According to HLN, Turner will reportedly be one of their main new assets for that plan in 2027.
In further big changes at Soudal, British time trial specialist Ethan Hayter and veteran Grand Tour specialist Mikel Landa are both likely to leave at the end of 2026.
Dwarfing those changes in a Belgian WorldTour team, though, could be if Lotto-Intermarché's top sprinter Arnaud De Lie could, as HLN reports is possible, move on for 2027. Both Tudor and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are in the market.
Following the departure of Biniam Girmay from Intermarché – prior to its fusion with Lotto – last winter, if confirmed, this would be the second major fastman to move on from the Belgian WorldTour squad in as many years.
In another important development, again, if confirmed, French Classics specialist Christophe Laporte is set to remain in Visma-Lease a Bike in 2027.
Critical to Wout van Aert's success and fifth himself in Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, according to the newspaper, the Belgian himself highlighted the quality of Laporte's contribution to Visma's Classics lineup, and Laporte now will most likely stay with the team beyond 2026.
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