Amid all the uncertainty of cycling's rider market in 2025, following mergers, teams folding and the usual cycle of ongoing contracts running out, several willing pros have been left in a desperate search for employment as the off-season begins.
29-year-old British rider James Shaw is among those seeking out a team, after his time on EF Education-EasyPost ran out. He detailed his current uncertain situation in an open Instagram post, prior to spending the coming weeks and months searching for a lifeline.
Just two years ago, Shaw finished fifth on a Tour de France stage after a day in the early break, and while 2025 meant another year gone by without a maiden professional victory, there were high points, especially at the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, where he finished third on GC.
"Slightly longer caption than usual so please persist. That’s a wrap for the 2025 season so here is a dump from my highs and lows," read Shaw's post.
"81 race days over 12000km of racing. 2 grand tours, my first Giro and a good touch with the tarmac. A small step on the podium at Pays Loire Tour in April, top 10 of a stage during the Vuelta, all in all, not a bad lap.
"Now for the awkward answer to the question I’ve been avoiding when you lot direct message me. For 2026, I do not know where I will be or what I will be doing."
It's a cycle that many pros have to endure as the season reaches its end in October, but Shaw has been here before. Back in 2018, he was dropped from the WorldTour team Lotto and earned a return to the WT with EF after spending the subsequent three years on Continental and Pro Teams.
Shaw is more than willing to do the same again, admitting how he's not declining on the approach to his 30s, as others and he himself had perhaps been expecting. In fact, Shaw is hungrier than ever.
"Yet again I find myself aboard the ship of riders in search of a contract in 2026. Personally I have never been more motivated and enthusiastic to keep racing something I thought was slowly slide as I resist the aging process," he said.
"However, I’ve found the opposite to be the case. Due to the somewhat rocky nature of the career I’ve had I know what it’s like to lose a dream career and gain it back again. So if there are any teams out there looking for a rider please do get in touch. Thanks for reading this far, you must have a lot of spare time to make it to the end."
Shaw's British compatriot, Dan McLay, is another rider who saw his time in the WorldTour come to an end after one season on Visma-Lease a Bike, and after telling Cyclingnews at the Tour de Pologne that "I'm not signed up yet, so if anyone wants me for the next year or two, I'm still going," he has retired.
McLay's last race was at the Tour of Guangxi, where his career unfortunately ended with a DNF. At 32, he still had years in the tank and had been operating as a lead-out for Olav Kooij this past season, but this is the reality for several pros in the current rider market, where opportunities dry up and spots on WorldTour teams are limited.
The British duo's predicament is similar to the one several Arkéa-B&B Hotels riders have been left in, after they failed to secure more funding and have been forced to fold for the upcoming year. The same goes for riders on Lotto and Intermarché, amid the merger between the two Belgian squads, with two near-full teams of riders unable to fit into the UCI's maximum of 30.
The current men's rider market is filled with riders being forced into early retirement, such as McLay, or having to take on an off-season of uncertainty, such as Shaw. As a result these next few weeks and months will be all about putting themselves out there and trying to find a home for 2026.
