British WorldTour rider sees pro future saved after social media push: “I can sleep properly now knowing something is signed”

James Shaw has confirmed he will remain in the WorldTour for 2026 after weeks of uncertainty that left the British climber training without knowing whether his professional career would continue.

The 29-year-old revealed the news in a new YouTube video, where he openly detailed the stress, setbacks and behind-the-scenes disruption that dominated his autumn. Shaw also confirmed that the new deal is an extension with EF Education-EasyPost, the team he has raced for since 2022.

Shaw, who raced two Grand Tours and logged more than 80 race days in 2025, said the prolonged wait for clarity pushed him dangerously close to another late-career crossroads. “On the 1st of December, I signed a contract for 2026,” he announced. “I can sleep properly now knowing something is signed.”

The deal ends one of the more uncertain episodes in Shaw’s career — a rider who has produced consistent performances across the WorldTour in recent years yet twice found himself battling the market late into the off-season. This latest limbo was shaped by wider turbulence: the collapse of the Arkea–B&B project, the stalled Wanty–Lotto merger, and a shrinking pool of roster spots across the sport. As Shaw put it, “There’s still probably about 60 guys without contracts and… only about seven, eight, nine places left on teams.”

Shaw used his video to explain how the contractual delay collided with his training, routine and even his personal support systems. “All my memberships to prescription apps were stopped,” he said, pointing to tools like Hexis that he used to track nutrition. “I didn’t really have a coach with the team, so I’d gone back to my previous coach for a few weeks… I thought that was literally going to be like a week. Turned out to be nearly a month.”

The uncertainty became so intense that even decisions around planning training camps felt like financial and emotional gambles. “We didn’t really know what we were doing,” he admitted, describing pre-booked camps in Calpe and altitude preparation that he feared might turn out to be “throwing good money at bad”.

A crash during filming — a slip on ice that required stitches — only compounded the chaos. “Gravity won and I had to go and get my knee stitched back together,” he said, appearing in the video in fresh kit the following day.

Despite the turmoil, Shaw made clear he never seriously considered dropping back to Britain’s domestic scene, where the Continental pathway he once used no longer exists. “There’s no UK Continental teams now. They’re all elite teams and there’s not really the path back to a professional rank at the age of 30,” he said. “It wasn’t really an option.”

Shaw’s frustration was shaped in part by the performances he delivered this season: over 80 race days, two Grand Tours, top-10s on Grand Tour stages and a podium in the Région Pays de la Loire Tour. The year followed earlier signs of upward trajectory too — two top-10 mountain stages at the 2023 Tour de France and a podium at Coppi e Bartali that same year.

With 2026 now secured, Shaw says the relief is transformative. “Super motivated now,” he told viewers. “I can sleep well now and enjoy the process a bit more.”

He thanked supporters for the surge of attention his situation generated online, with his previous video surpassing 10,000 views — a rare number for his channel — and playing a tangible role in keeping his story circulating as teams finalised rosters.