Cyclist
Pro cycling transfers 2024/2025: Simon Yates to Visma, O’Connor to Jayco, Pidcock to leave Ineos?
It’s all kicking off in the 2025 pro cycling transfer market. As we have now passed the watershed opening to the transfer market on 1st August, moves can start to be revealed publicly.
This means teams and riders can finally put us out of our misery and share the news of their new team for 2025, but the rumours keep on circling until all rosters are filled.
For the men, Simon Yates and Jai Hindley are among the hottest properties on the transfer market this year. There are also plenty of rumours brewing around riders cutting ties early, however. On the women’s side, Tour de France Femmes champion Demi Vollering is expected to move away from SD Worx-Protime, Visma-Lease a Bike are rumoured to be signing MTB World and Olympics champ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, and Elisa Longo Borghini is on the market.
Confirmed: Simon Yates to Visma-Lease a Bike
It has been formally announced this week that Simon Yates’s next destination will be Visma-Lease a Bike. The British rider has penned a contract with the team until 2026.
Despite previous interest from Israel-Premier Tech, Dutch squad Visma-Lease a Bike won the hunt for Yates’s signature after a lacklustre performance at the 2024 Tour de France. Much like his brother Adam at UAE, Simon will be hoping to star in a powerful mountain train at future Tours de France.
Visma-Lease a Bike director Grischa Niermann said that Yates would provide ‘a significant boost for the general classification squad. Simon will have the opportunity to go for his own results with us, but he will also be a valuable asset for the team in the mountains.’
After ten years spent at the Jayco-AlUla, this will mark the end of one of cycling’s longest-running partnerships, which saw Yates claim a Vuelta a España victory and a Giro d’Italia podium.
In a quest to strengthen its grip on the Classics, Visma-Lease a Bike has also announced the signing of French rider Alex Zingle from Cofidis.
Confirmed: Ben O’Connor to Jayco-AlUla
Jayco-AlUla have announced that they will replace Simon Yates with Perth-born Ben O’Connor. High in confidence from a fourth-place finish at the Giro in May, O’Connor will lead Jayco-AlUla’s Tour de France hopes for at least the next two seasons. Despite his Australian nationality, O’Connor has never ridden for the GreenEdge project.
‘To be honest, it’s really an idea I’ve always loved; to race as an Aussie and win on an Aussie team,’ O’Connor told the press following the announcement on Thursday. ‘I’m at a point now where I need to deliver, so it’ll be even more special to do it with an Australian set-up. To have the opportunity to race with mates at the top level is rare, and I am just so keen to get stuck in.’
O’Connor will leave Decathlon-AG2R after securing two Grand Tour top five finishes at the team. The recent series of Netflix’s Tour de France: Unchained, however, unearthed some turbulence in the relationship between the Australian and the French team’s staff.
Confirmed: Jhonatan Narváez and Florian Vermeersch to UAE Team Emirates
If the rumours are true, UAE Team Emirates are the team with the biggest budget in the world. For 2025, they have added two names to bolster their roster even further: Jhonatan Narváez and Florian Vermeersch.
Narváez recently upset Tadej Pogačar at the Giro to take the victory on Stage 1, outsprinting his future teammate to claim the first pink jersey. The Ecuadorian also has strong results in the cobbled Classics and offers a strong card to play in the Ardennes. Narváez will depart an Ineos Grenadiers team that he has been a part of for five years.
Florian Vermeersch has also been brought into UAE Team Emirates from Lotto-Dstny to fight for Classics wins and support stage race teams according to UAE’s announcement. The Belgian scored a big result at the 2021 Paris-Roubaix, finishing in second place. He has also made the podium of the UCI Gravel World Championships and the Renewi Tour since that breakthrough.
Confirmed: Bob Jungels and Victor Langelotti to Ineos Grenadiers
Bob Jungels made a major breakthrough during the mid-2010s. The Luxembourger finished inside the top ten at the Giro on two occasions, then he added Liège-Bastogne-Liège to his palmarès. Since then, it’s been turbulent. However, a stage win at the 2022 Tour de France showed us that he isn’t done yet. It has now been confirmed that Jungels will make the move to Ineos Grenadiers for 2025.
Scott Drawer, Ineos’s performance director, said that Jungels is ‘a very popular guy and in all our discussions he’s been very impressive. His approach to the sport, and what he believes he’ll bring to the team, align perfectly with our goals for the future and what we want to achieve together.’
The more surprising Ineos transfer is Victor Langelotti. The 29-year-old Monégasque rider will move across from the second-tier team Burgos-BH. He is a strong climber who has shown some solid results in second-tier races across Europe. He has signed a two-year deal.
Langelotti said in response to his transfer announcement, ‘The wins of Wiggins, Froome, Thomas, and others inspired me. I always hoped to be part of it one day. I’m really looking forward to reaching my full potential here, and also help future leaders to the best of my ability.’
Confirmed: Guillaume Martin to Groupama-FDJ
Guillaume Martin will leave Cofidis after making his jump up to the WorldTour with the team back in 2020. It has been announced that he will be moving to Groupama-FDJ.
The rider – who is also a published author of philosophy-cum-cycling allegory Socrates by Bike – reportedly received offers from Arkéa, former team Intermarché and Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale. However Groupama-FDJ won the fight for the Frenchman’s signature.
After Martin’s departure, Cofidis have announced the arrival of Belgian puncheur Dylan Teuns and Sylvain Moniquet. This will help to fill the void at the team currently sitting dangerously low in the UCI Rankings.
He looks to be replacing Lenny Martinez, who will leave Groupama-FDJ at the end of 2024. His destination looks set to be Bahrain Victorious. RMC Sport claims that Martinez has already signed a deal worth €800,000, a sum four times larger than his current package.
Rumour: Tom Pidcock could leave Ineos
Following a gold medal in the men’s cross-country event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it is rumoured that Tom Pidcock will leave Ineos Grenadiers. Reports state that Pidcock is looking to cut his deal with Ineos Grenadiers early and that he ‘could be on the transfer market in a matter of weeks’ according to Daniel Benson.
It is rumoured that two teams are in the running for Pidcock: Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is a natural match. The team has hosted mountain bikers before, including Victor Koretzky who won the silver medal in Paris. Pidcock is also already a Red Bull UK athlete and works closely with the brand.
Lidl-Trek have received a big budget increase too, plus Trek already have a mountain bike team and the squad have added more multi-discipline riders over the past two seasons.
These rumours come alongside Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s Ineos odeparture. The women’s cross-country World and Olympic champion will reportedly move to Visma-Lease a Bike to return to road racing, with her sights set on the Tour de France. With her exit, Ineos’s women’s project looks to be coming to an end.
Rumour: Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe eager for growth
After a big rebrand and budget increase ahead of the 2024 Tour de France, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have been making their big ambitions in the 2025 transfer market known. Ralf Denk’s team had a difficult Tour de France last month, finishing last in the prize money standings, therefore getting little return on investment there.
With growing GC ambitions, the German team have announced the signing of Italian hope Guilio Pelizzari. The 20-year-old VF Group-Bardiani rider from the underrepresented Marche region of Italy broke through at the Giro d’Italia this year, almost claiming a career-defining win on Stage 16 before being swamped by Tadej Pogačar.
The team is also reported to be in the chase for Classics revelations Oier Lazkano and Laurence Pithie. The latter was said to be ‘a done deal’ by some transfer gurus. We await the official announcement.
Alongside them, the seasoned Slovenian Jan Tratnik has also been rumoured to move to the team from Visma-Lease a Bike in 2025. Winner of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad earlier this year, Tratnik would relish the opportunity to reunite with countryman and close friend Primož Roglič.
To make room, it is strongly rumoured that Lennard Kämna will leave Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and move to Lidl-Trek, and as mentioned Bob Jungels has also confirmed his departure.
Rumour: Elisa Longo Borghini to UAE Team ADQ
A stalwart of Lidl-Trek’s dominance in the women’s peloton, Elisa Longo Borghini is set to leave the American squad at the end of 2024. This will see the end of a five-year-long stint with the team that has carried her to Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen glory.
The Italian’s departure was confirmed after the Vuelta Femenina by Lidl-Trek team manager Luca Guercilena in Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport. Guercilena also confirmed that Lidl-Trek tried to extend the contract of the Italian national champion, but she has decided that her future lies elsewhere.
The destination has emerged to be UAE Team ADQ. The team currently includes riders such as Silvia Persico and Karlijn Swinkels for support. The roster is not as deep as Lidl-Trek’s, so Longo Borghini will likely have to rely on her own expertise at her new destination.
At her former team Lidl-Trek, Gaia Realini will now assume the GC leader position after having extended her contract until 2027.
Rumour: Demi Vollering to leave SD Worx
In March, GCN broke the news that Demi Vollering will be leaving SD Worx-Protime at the end of 2024. After a partnership that has resulted in Classics victories and a Tour de France Femmes title, the Dutch champion will go elsewhere for 2025.
Although it’s perhaps not a surprise given the increasing powers of Lotte Kopecky and return of Anna van der Breggen next season, Vollering is the biggest name in the women’s market this year and there is a fierce and exclusive battle for her signature.
Sources disclose that Vollering’s agent was in serious talks with Lidl-Trek up until the Tour of Flanders when the American team pulled back their interest in support of their current roster’s future objectives.
FDJ-Suez remain a strong contender, but the viability of this rumour is up in the air as the team lays eyes on other objectives. Elsewhere, UAE Team ADQ have fallen out of the mix.
Vollering, who according to sources has been offered a €1 million per year contract, is running out of options if she wants to remain adamant about a move away from SD Worx. We wait with bated breath to see who enters the ring as Vollering’s future home.
Other men’s rumours
There are plenty of rumours awaiting confirmation within the men’s peloton.
Giro d’Italia stage winner Valentin Paret-Peintre looks set to move to Soudal-QuickStep. He will leave his older brother Aurélien at Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale in favour of supporting Remco Evenepoel’s GC hopes. Maximilian Schachmann is also expected to join Soudal-QuickStep in 2025.
Evenepoel’s current domestiques Fausto Masnada and Jan Hirt are reported to be on the move for 2025. The former, a podium finisher at Il Lombardia, will move to the Swiss-South African Continental squad Q36.5, while Hirt, a top ten finisher at the Giro on two occasions, will head to Israel-Premier Tech.
It has also been widely reported that Alexey Lutsenko looks set to leave Astana-Qazaqstan. The Kazakh leader has been touted for with a surprise exit to Israel-Premier Tech at the end of the season. This comes after a change of investors at the team.
Other women’s rumours
For the women, Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes have penned hefty contract extensions until 2028. They are no longer available for 2025.
There are big changes expected at Canyon-SRAM. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig looks set to make the jump from FDJ-Suez to Canyon-SRAM for 2025. The potential arrival of Demi Vollering and the current rise of French climber Évita Muzic threaten Uttrup Ludwig’s niche within the team. Chiara Consonni, already a stage winner at the Giro d’Italia Women, is also linked to Canyon-SRAM. This means that Consonni will exit UAE Team ADQ before the rumoured signing of Elisa Longo Borghini comes into effect.
Curious where the money for these big contracts comes from? Brush up our breakdown of all the WorldTour team sponsors
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