Evenepoel, Démare, Geoghegan Hart and Rodríguez fuel 2024 rider transfer market
How big-name changes will shape the 2024 men's peloton
Professional cycling's transfer window officially opens on August 1, with a number of big name riders and teams expected to announce new signings for the 2024 season.
Under UCI rules, riders can change teams mid-season between August 1-15, while a change of teams between two calendar seasons can be announced between August 1 and December 31.
2024 marks the start of year two of the three-year cycle for the UCI WorldTour places and with most rider contracts lasting two years, the new signings will play a vital role in team scoring enough points to retain or earn places in the WorldTour for 2026-2028.
Cyclingnews will keep track of all rider and team movements – from transfers to contract renewals and retirements – with our dedicated Transfer Hub.
Cycling transfers - All the latest news and rumours for the 2024 season
We will update this page through the rest of the year with every confirmed signing for 2024, building a team-by-team list of ins and outs, while also tracking the latest transfer news from the pro peloton.
We will study the women’s transfer market with a separate feature and news.
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Rider agents have been busy working in the background in recent months, trying to promote their riders to teams and securing the best offer for their services, while team managers have been studying their riders’ results and deciding their strategies for the year ahead.
Some team managers have lamented sky-high contract prices for leading riders, with some of the richest teams using their €50 million per season budgets to buy up key riders to keep them away from their rivals. Even a Tour de France stage winner or spring revelation can demand a salary of over €1 million. Riders logically try to maximise their earnings due to their short careers and market prices.
We expect some significant rider transfers to be announced in the weeks ahead and will analyse what the moves mean for the riders and teams involved.
The movers and shakers for 2024
A number of strategic changes at teams will influence the transfer market for 2024 with Remco Evenepoel definitely the biggest mover and shaker.
Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere is busy trying to build a Tour de France team for Evenepoel and keep his young Belgian protege happy. However the reports that Ineos Grenadiers, Israel-Premier Tech and others are said to be trying to convince Evenepoel to buy out his contract with Lefevere and jump ship continue, with reports of Evenepoel being offered €6 million per season, such is his appeal and potential.
Lefevere has insisted he will not let Evenepoel go and that the Soudal-QuickStep team is for sale. Evenepoel dismissed the reports as ‘small bullshit that is going around’ on Friday but he knows he needs a strong team if he is to take on Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar at the 2024 Tour de France.
So far Lefevere has only confirmed a handful of riders and said he is speaking to Mikel Landa as possible support for Evenepoel. Thanks to sponsorship from Specialized and the Belgian team’s Classics skills, Lefevere has secured the service of the USA’s Luke Lamperti, arguably the best sprinter and classics rider to turn professional in 2024.
Ineos Grenadiers are keen to secure a true Tour de France contender after several years off the podium in July. Geraint Thomas is expected to extend his contract for two more years, Egan Bernal is recovering well after his life-threatening crash and Tom Pidock will target the Tour de France in 2025 but Ineos Grenadiers want and arguably need a rider of Evenepoel’s calibre to compete with Pogačar and Vingegaard in 2024.
Carlos Rodríguez impressed at the Tour de France but reportedly has a pre-contract with Movistar, with a significant buyout clause the only way for Ineos Grenadiers to keep the young Spaniard. Dani Martinez has been linked to Bora-Hansgrohe, while Ineos Grenadiers hope that Luke Plapp, Magnus Sheffield and Leo Hayter can mature quickly and fill their shoes.
Tao Geoghegan Hart is widely expected to move to Lidl-Trek for 2024, while Ben Tulett will move to Jumbo-Visma and Pavel Sivakov has been linked to a move to UAE Team Emirates.
Jumbo-Visma have most of their key riders under contract and managed to convince Olav Kooij to stay, but will also sign Matteo Jorgenson from Movistar, while Rohan Dennis will retire and a crop of talented young riders step up from the Jumbo-Visma development team, including Giro Next Gen winner Johannes Staune-Mittet.
Jumbo-Visma have sponsorship in place for 2024 but team manager Richard Plugge is searching for a new international title sponsor to replace the Jumbo supermarket chain. A report suggested the Saudi Arabian Neom construction and development project could sponsor the team and so significantly raise the budget of the team, while Plugge has confirmed he is in serious talks with several international parties. If Plugge secures a major new sponsor, he could perhaps be interested in signing Evenepoel and further bolster his roster as he fights with UAE Team Emirates for the crown as best team in the professional peloton.
UAE Team Emirates hope to end the 2023 season as the number-one ranked team in the world and the arrival of Sivakov, Filippo Baroncini from (Lidl-Trek), Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) would boost their Grand Tour and Classics squads.
Lidl-Trek have ambitions to join the super teams, with the arrival of Lidl lifting their budget from the bottom third to the top third of the WorldTour team. Major signings for 2024 include Geoghegan Hart from Ineos Grenadiers and sprinter/track pursuiter Jonathan Milan from Bahrain Victorious, while Giulio Ciccone has extended his contract until 2027.
EF Education-EasyPost have already announced the signing of talented Irish riders Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan and E-sports discovery Jardi Christiaan van der Lee, with Markel Beloki, the very young son of Joseba Beloki, also on their radar.
Alberto Bettiol is expected to extend his contract with the US-registered team, as will Neilson Powless, while Ben Healy signed a new deal after his hugely successful spring that keeps in him EF pink until 2026.
However, Magnus Cort has decided to move on after four years at EF. Uno-X, who are expanding their roster and sponsor interests in Denmark, were the first team to announce a signing on August 1, confirming Cort's signing at 7:45am.
Most other teams will retain their current leader for 2024, while Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor ProTeam is set to boost their profile by signing Matteo Trentin and other experienced riders. The Swiss team is also interested in Sam Bennett, as he looks to move on from Bora-Hansgrohe after non-selection for the Tour de France.
Eolo-Kometa will become Team Polti for 2024, with team manager Ivan Basso suddenly entering the market to strengthen his roster.
AG2R are likely to lose Citroën as a title sponsor but have extended the contracts of Benoît Cosnefroy and Felix Gall, with the French team a possible destination for Victor Lafay.
Sprinters’ play musical chairs
Sam Bennett’s move is part of a series of sprinter transfers expected for 2024.
Fabio Jakobsen will leave Soudal-Quickstep for Team dsm-firmenich, Sam Welsford has been named as Bennett’s replacement at Bora-Hansgrohe and Caleb Ewan’s time at Lotto-Dstny seems to be over, despite a contract for 2024.
Arnaud Démare will leave Groupama-FDJ after being left out of the Tour de France team and Arkéa-Samsic were quick to confirm that he will race the rest of 2023 in the Breton’s red colours and until the end of 2025.
Pascal Ackermann is likely to join Israel-Premier Tech, Human Powered Health are said to be interested in Bennett after failing to convince Mark Cavendish of their ambitions for 2023. Cavendish is likely to race on in 2024 with Astana Qazaqstan, perhaps then creating a sprint unit in the team to develop his long-time heir.
Most major rider signings have been agreed and will be announced when their new teams decide in the days and weeks ahead.
Teams have until October to sign and register the core of their roster for 2024, with a final contract deadline in December.
Between now and then deals with domestiques and lesser riders will be negotiated, confirmed and signed, with final rosters only confirmed in the winter when teams gather to plan and prepare for the new season.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
