Cycling transfers – All the latest news and announcements for the 2026 season

One of cycling’s most important blocks of the season is well underway: transfer season. As is traditional, August 1 marked the start of when teams will reveal new riders and contracts for the 2026 season, and the moves are in full swing now.

August 1 marked the first day of announcements, but expect transfers to continue to be revealed all the way to the end of the season as riders find new homes for January 1.

The biggest news that has come out of the Vuelta a España is that Juan Ayuso has broken his long-term contract to leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG early over ‘differences in vision’, with his destination not yet confirmed.

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Elsewhere, the budget-boosted Decathlon-CMA CGM team has secured star sprinter Olav Kooij, are are building a strong team around him, including snapping up Cees Bol and Daan Hoole.

On the women’s side, last year’s merry-go-round of moves may mean we see fewer major transfers this year, but there are still rumours and changes expected. Charlotte Kool has made a mid-season contract to Fenix-Deceuninck, whilst Lidl-Trek and FDJ-Suez have both been active, making some strong signings.

Earlier in the window, after months of speculation, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe confirmed the signing of Remco Evenepoel, who is breaking his contract with Soudal-QuickStep to change teams. He’s taking several riders and staff with him, including Mattia Cattaneo who joins the team on a one-year contract.

There are still a lot of announcements to come, and plenty of big rumours, too, for example surrounding Derek Gee’s supposed departure from Israel-Premier Tech, though the team still say he has a contract.

There is also the carousel of stagiaires – young, non-professional riders who are getting trial runs with WorldTour teams in August and the autumn.

Cyclingnews is tracking all movements during the transfer season – everything from contract renewals to extensions to retirements – with our dedicated transfer index across the men’s and women’s WorldTeams and ProTeams.

We’ll update this page through the rest of the year with every confirmed signing for 2026, building a team-by-team list of ins and outs, while also tracking the latest transfer news from the professional cycling peloton.

The 2025-2026 market: we we already know

There have already been a number of important announcements and signings for the 2026 season, and perhaps a couple of the most unique across the women’s and men’s pelotons are Wout van Aert’s and Marianne Vos’ ‘forever contracts’ that both signed to spend the rest of their professional cycling careers with Visma-Lease a Bike.

Van Aert signed his unique career-long contract at the end of last season, while Vos signed her eternity contract in the spring.

Cyclingnews has already highlighted the retirements of several high-profile athletes, including Caleb Ewan, who announced his immediate retirement from pro cycling and Ineos Grenadiers in May, and Geraint Thomas who ended his career at the Tour of Britain Men.

Lizzie Deignan, who was set to retire at the end of 2025, announced in July that she would step aside immediately as she is expecting a third child, and her teammate Ellen van Dijk will also stop at the end of the season.

Another high-profile retirement is Romain Bardet, who made his Grand Tour farewell at the Giro d’Italia and ended his career after the Critérium du Dauphiné. Mike Woods will also retire at the end of this year, as will Tim Declercq.

Transfer speculation and negotiations are expected to intensify, as done deals are announced, but many deals remain in progress even after August 1. Riders and teams in the women’s and men’s peloton are expected to sign new contracts, extend current contracts, or transfer to known teams.

Rumours and speculation

It is common for rumours and speculation to circulate through the peloton at this time of year, especially before the August 1 transfer window begins.

Many of these turn out to be completely true – Evenepoel’s move, Ayuso’s departure and Olav Kooij’s arrival at Decathlon were all reported by various outlets before they were officially confirmed.

The biggest question mark at the moment is over the future of Juan Ayuso, who confirmed his exit from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, but is yet to announce his new destination, with many outlets pointing to Lidl-Trek as a likely candidate.

Biniam Girmay is the subject of many rumours at the moment, too, with a possible move to Israel-Premier Tech on the cards according to several publications.

Up-and-coming French talent Kévin Vauquelin, who recently shone at the Tour, could also sign for Ineos Grenadiers in 2026.

There are also team matters that are yet to be resolved, such as Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ survival, and the possible merger between Intermarché-Wanty and Lotto.

On the women’s side, several riders like Lucinda Brand and Silvia Persico are yet to confirm their contracts or plans for next year, and could be on the move.

Riders still without a contract

While many of the big transfers and key contract extensions have been announced, several riders are still without a contract for 2026.

This can be due to some teams choosing not to announce the length of contracts, opting not to confirm their rosters until the last minute or because certain riders are simply not having their contracts renewed.

Among the biggest names technically without an announced contract at the end of 2025 are: Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

Reaching the end of their contracts in 2025 in the women’s peloton are Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck).

The season is winding down, and the ‘off-season’ will begin after the UCI Road World Championships and the remaining WorldTour events in October. Then, teams head to training camp in December, expecting many of these as-yet-unresolved contract questions to be answered and full rosters to be confirmed.

Confirmed transfers – team by team

This is our index to all transfers that have been officially confirmed by teams.

Men’s WorldTour

Alpecin-Deceuninck

Arkéa-B&B Hotels

Bahrain Victorious

Cofidis

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale

EF Education-EasyPost

Groupama-FDJ

Ineos Grenadiers

Intermarché-Wanty

Jayco-AlUla

Lidl-Trek

Movistar

Picnic PostNL

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

Soudal-QuickStep

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

Visma-Lease a Bike

XDS Astana Team

Women’s WorldTour

AG Insurance-Soudal

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto

Ceratizit Pro Cycling

FDJ-Suez

Fenix-Deceuninck

Human Powered Health

Lidl-Trek

Liv-AlUla-Jayco

Movistar

Roland

Picnic PostNL

SD Worx-Protime

UAE Team ADQ

Uno-X Mobility

Visma-Lease a Bike

Men’s ProTeams

Burgos Burpellet BH

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Equipo Kern Pharma

Euskaltel-Euskadi

Israel-Premier Tech

Lotto

Q36.5 Pro Cycling

Flanders-Baloise

Novo Nordisk

Polti-Kometa

Solutions Tech – Vini Fantini

TotalEnergies

Unibet Tietema Rockets

Tudor Pro Cycling

Uno-X Mobility

VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè

Wagner Bazin WB

Women’s Pro Teams

Arkea-B&B Hotels Women

Cofidis

EF Education-Oatly

Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi

St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 WE

VolkerWessels Cycling Team

Winspace Orange Seal