The 2025 season’s rider transfers and new contracts can be revealed from today, August 1, and teams and agents are busy finalising deals and preparing announcements.
The ongoing Olympic Games could see some teams opt to delay making major announcements but several deals are expected to be announced from Thursday.
Italy's Alex Carera is one of the world’s leading rider agents, and few people on earth know the rider market better than him. He and his partners, including his brother Johnny, have a huge stable of riders, including Tadej Pogačar, Biniam Girmay, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Jasper Philipsen.
Carera was busy finalising deals before the transfer window opened on August 1 but spoke to Cyclingnews about the big deals of 2025. Like most agents, Carera earns between five and seven per cent of a rider’s income for negotiating deals and providing riders with other services. Carera is also on the board of the World Association of Riders' Agents.
A bull market
“This year’s riders transfer market is a growing market, which is good for everyone,” Carera told Cyclingnews.
“Some major multinational brands have entered the sport like Red Bull, Decathlon, Lidl and Tudor, which is part of the Rolex group. Intermarche are also going to invest more in cycling via Intermarche France, which is a significant boost to the team. Astana also seems to have secured significant new investment from China. I really hope that Vino [Alexandr Vinokourov] has pulled off a big deal but there are still doubts about if the Chinese authorities will allow major investment overseas.
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Carera explains that there is also a caveat when it comes to inking new two-year contracts that are having an impact on the 2025 transfers.
“It’s a good moment for riders but also a complex moment because we’re only 18 months away from the UCI awarding the new WorldTour team licences for 2026-2028 based on team budgets and the points they’ve scored until now,” Carera explained.
“Some teams could lose their licence after 2025 and so that undermines some team’s ability to offer long contracts. Agents have to judge what is best for their riders, based on a team’s risk of being relegated. Any teams in the relegation zone will have to pay more for the big riders due to the risk that they could miss out on WorldTour racing in 2026.”
That could affect Astana plans but they do seem to be targeting riders who can help them score points in 2025.
Cyclingnews reported that sprinter Kaden Groves is a target, while Italian journalist Ciro Scognamiglio has suggested that Astana has also offered Alberto Bettiol a good offer that could tempt him to leave EF Education-EasyPost. Astana could also try to sign Joao Almeida from UAE Team Emirates.
A key domestique to Pogačar, Almeida has been the subject of transfer speculation (Image credit: Getty Images)
Last year Carera helped Uijtdebroeks leave Bora-Hansgrohe to join Visma-Lease a Bike, with all parties and the UCI eventually reaching a deal. This year Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock could be tempted to try to break their current contracts and leave Soudal-Quick Step and Ineos Grenadiers in pursuit of better contracts or better team support.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have been linked to Evenepoel. They have significantly more budget after the arrival of the energy drink brand and want a future Grand Tour contender to join Primož Roglič. Both teams use Specialized bikes, which Carera considers a huge factor.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe could target Pidcock if they are unable to sign Evenepoel, with Lidl-Trek named as another team interested.
Breaking contract
However, Carera explains that there are specific conditions for big-name transfers when riders are under contract.
“I think we’ve all learnt in recent years that contracts can be broken and riders can leave teams,” Carera explained.
“But it can only be done in two ways: if there’s a get-out clause or there’s a three-way agreement between the rider, the team they want to leave, and the UCI. However, the UCI are trying to dissuade riders from breaking their contracts to avoid problems in the sport.
“Pidcock and Evenepel are two big-name riders but are in two very different situations. However, there’s no doubt that they’ll shape the rider market in some way this year and in the years to come, when their current contracts end.”
Tom Pidcock enters the transfer window into 2025 fresh from his second Olympic gold medal in Cross-Country MTB (Image credit: Getty Images)
“If there’s a get clause of some kind in Remco’s contract then maybe he could change teams for 2025 or 2026 but only those involved, who signed the contract know the full details. That’s a question for Remco’s father, who acts as his agent, and Patrick Lefevere.
“If Remco leaves Soudal-Quick Step, Red Bull would be the perfect destination because they have Specialized as their bike sponsor. Remco apparently has a personal deal with Specialized like other riders in the past and the American bike brand is naturally very keen to work with Red Bull for the long term.
“If Pidcock doesn’t have a get-out clause, then it’s very difficult for him to leave Ineos. Cian Uijtdebroeks managed to do a three-way deal to leave Bora for Visma-Lease a Bike but that was because he had a low salary and so a Belgian court would have allowed a low buy-out payment under employment law if a deal hadn’t been reached.
“Pidcock’s situation is very different and I’m sure Ineos doesn't want to let him go. However, the British team needs to decide on a clear rider strategy and act ahead of their biggest rivals if they want to remain competitive.”
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).
