The UCI rider transfer window officially opens on August 1 and so teams can soon announce their new signings for 2025.
Each year there are significant changes in teams rosters as they try to sign new riders to match their growing ambitions and sponsor desires and 2025 will be a strategic year. The fight for UCI ranking points to avoid relegation from the WorldTour in 2026 is one factor and growing ambitions and sponsorship from Red Bull, Decathlon, Lidl and Tudor is also driving the market.
Cyclingnews expects some teams to make rider announcements on August 1 but the Paris Olympics Games currently dominate the sporting headlines and several riders and teams have said they will delay revealing new signings as a result.
However the scene begins, team managers and rider agents have been negotiating for months and trying to understand the men’s rider market.
Some big-name riders are about to extend their current contracts, while others want to change teams. Contracts are becoming longer but there is also a growing trend in the sport for some big-budget teams to try to convince riders to break their contracts in exchange for a far better deal.
French newspaper L’Equipe recently described the changes in the riders transfer market as the ‘footballisation’ of professional cycling.
These are the ten male riders that Cyclingnews believes are driving the 2025 transfer market.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe?)
There is growing speculation and a number of reports that Remco Evenepoel may try to buy out his contract at Soudal-QuickStep and move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2025 or 2026.
He opted to stay loyal to the Belgian team last year when a merger with Visma-Lease a Bike was discussed but his third place at the Tour de France and his Olympic gold medal have only boosted his value and the desire of rival teams to sign him. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team manager Ralph Denk tried to sign Evenepoel two years ago but now Red Bull’s funds and ambitions make the move possible.
Evenepoel is represented by his father, who has always played down the reports of him leaving Soudal-QuickStep but team manager Patrick Lefevere has tried to scare off any interest in recent weeks.
“I will never force a rider to stay against his wishes but Remco is under contract until 2026,” Lefevere told the La Dernière Heure newspaper in Belgium on Tuesday.
“Those who want him know what it will cost them. And then, I am not sure that a team can offer him better overall conditions than those he has with us. I’m not talking here only about money but also about well-being.”
It is unclear if Evenepoel has some form of decreasing get-out clause and if Soudal-QuickStep are able to secure extra sponsorship and Grand Tour support to keep him happy and onboard. Any final decision could again be down to Evenepoel, his long-term ambitions and loyalty to his current teammates.
Get the popcorn ready.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates to UAE Team Emirates)
Tadej Pogačar will probably never leave UAE Team Emirates and his current contract ends in 2027 but his Giro-Tour double has elevated his status even higher and so UAE Team Emirates are expected to rip-up his current deal and extend it out even further, until 2029.
Pogačar reportedly earns close to six million Euro per season but his new contract could see him earn even more, for even longer. He apparently has a €100 million get-out clause and so rivals are unable to fund any move away from UAE Team Emirates.
The team intend to support him for years to come and target even more Tour de France victories, with a new deal ensuring everyone is happy.
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers to ?)
The Yorkshireman has a long-term deal with Ineos until 2027 and is one of the highest paid non-Grand Tour contender riders in the peloton, earning around €2.7 million according to Daniel Benson’s Substack page.
Benson reported that two WorldTour teams are aware that Pidcock could try to buy his way out of his contract. Nieuwsblad reported that these are Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. The German team could target Pidcock if they are unable to sign Remco Evenepoel.
However his agent Andrew McQuaid played down any transfer talk, while highlighting Pidcock’s appeal, even if he has still to confirm his Grand Tour talent and ambitions.
“Would other teams be interested in Tom? He’s one of the best riders in the world, very few have his multi-discipline talents, so yes I am sure they would be but that’s not a question for today,” McQuaid told Daniel Benson.
Cyclingnews understands that Pidcock does not have a get-out clause in his contract and so would have to force or negotiate a deal to leave Ineos, who would hate to lose him.
Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla to Visma-Lease a Bike)
The 31-year-old British rider’s contract with Jayco-AlUla ends this year and he is expected to join Visma-Lease a Bike as a vital Tour de France support rider and stage race leader, in a similar role to his twin brother Adam at UAE Team Emirates.
Jayco-AlUla are expected to replace Yates with Australia’s Ben O’Connor from Decathlon-AG2R, sparking a domino effect in several teams. Yates won the 2018 Vuelta a Espana and other stages and stage races but was only 12th at the recent Tour de France.
O’Connor is younger at 28 and reaffirmed his Grand Tour credentials with fourth at the Giro d’Italia. He finished fourth in the 2021 Tour de France and Jayco perhaps hopes he can return to that level.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Philipsen was tempted by several offers this spring but ultimately opted to stay with Alpecin-Deceuninck and continue his Classic and sprinting partnership with Mathieu van der Poel.
Alpecin-Deceuninck could have invested in a future Grand Tour talent but have opted for the sprinting success Philipsen seems to guarantee at every Tour de France.
They spent a chunk of their budget to lift his salary closer to that of Van der Poel. They have little left for other riders but preferred to avoid taking any risks and stop their rivals signing Philipsen
Biniam Girmay’s decision to stay at Intermarché-Wanty is a similar contract move. He could have changed teams but decided to stay loyal in exchange for a significant salary increase.
The team was funded by the Belgian division of the Intermarché supermarket brand but the much bigger and much wealthier French division of the company is expected to back the team in 2025 and in the years to come and so cover Girmay’s new four-year contract.
Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers to UAE Team Emirates)
Narváez’s move away from Ineos highlights the British team’s current status and their inability to sign and retain the best riders.
They have extended with Josh Tarling and kept Carlos Rodríguez but have lost Pavel Sivakov, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Luke Plapp in recent years. Ineos once ruled the roost and could pick and choose the riders they wanted, now the best young talent wants to ride for UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek.
Narváez is expected to replace Marc Hirschi at UAE Team Emirates, with the Swiss Classics rider moving to Tudor, owned by his mentor and agent Fabian Cancellara.
Ineos claim they are building for the future but are struggling to stay competitive in the peloton and the transfer market. They apparently have the funding to spend but lack the clear strategy to anticipate and overcome the moves of rival teams.
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates to ?)
There has recently been speculation that Juan Ayuso could try to leave UAE Team Emirates as his Grand Tour ambitions grow. His Tour de France debut alongside Pogačar ended due to COVID-19 but there appeared to be tension with teammate João Almeida early in the race and senior management were not impressed with Ayuso's behaviour.
There is no doubt that UAE Team Emirates have an abundance of Grand Tour talent, with Isaac del Toro also waiting in the wings. However Ayuso is still only 21 and is considered a future Grand Tour winner. UAE Team Emirates will surely try to keep him and find a way for him to race alongside Pogačar in the years to come.
It has been suggested to Cyclingnews that Almeida could be sacrificed and let go despite having a contract until 2026. Astana are apparently keen to sign Almeida and use his stage race consistency to score enough 2025 UCI ranking points to stay in the WorldTour. He could double his salary and earn close to €3 million per year in the process.
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep to Tudor, TotalEnergies or ?)
The two-time world champion may no longer be at his swashbuckling best but is considered an influential part of the 2025 transfer market.
Cyclingnews understands that Tudor has made the Frenchman an offer, knowing that his arrival could help secure a wild card invitation to the 2025 Tour de France.
TotalEnergies are trying to make the same play, as are perhaps others. Soudal-QuickStep are also keen to keep him but that is unlikely after Patrick Lefevere’s repeated criticism.
Alaphilippe has endured two tough years but now can decide his own future and the next chapter of his career.
Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ to Bahrain Victorious)
The talented 21-year-old French rider will become a team leader at Bahrain Victorious in 2025, with a three-year deal expected to be announced very soon.
Martinez will earn close to €6 million over three seasons, with Bahrain Victorious convinced he can become a Grand Tour contender or at least a stage winner and one of the best pure climbers in the sport. He will ride alongside Santiago Buitrago and Antonio Tiberi, with the team also hiring key senior staff to work on specific projects.
Groupama-FDJ were unable to match the Bahrain Victorious offer, leaving Marc Madiot to hope that Romain Grégoire and Brieuc Rolland can quickly be successful.
Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
The Kiwi is one of several of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s strategic signings for 2025, whatever may eventually happen with Remco Evenepoel.
Others include vital Grand Tour domestique and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Jan Tratnik, 20-year-old Italian Giulio Pellizzari who was second to Isaac del Toro in the 2023 Tour de l'Avenir, Spaniard Oier Lazkano and young Kiwi talent Finn Fisher-Black from UAE Team Emirates.
Pithie impressed this spring with several gutsy and audacious rides. He won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, was consistent in the cobbled Classics and finished seventh at Paris-Roubaix. That drove interest in him and secured him a great contract with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
