CYCLING MARKET | Juan Ayuso signs with Lidl-Trek for 5 years as World Tour teams battle for Kigali junior and under-23 stars

This week in the cycling market we have seen a few teams put a stamp on their future positively, whilst a few meaningful transfers such as that of Juan Ayuso to Lidl-Trek were finally confirmed. Furthermore, with the World Championships taking place in Kigali, many teams were quick to talk or confirm signings of some of the best junior and under-23 riders in the market.

Juan Ayuso has finally been confirmed as a Lidl-Trek rider for the upcoming five seasons, a major gamble for the American team who has a new leader signed all the way into 2029, after his harsh break up with UAE Team Emirates - XRG. This is a move that had been heavily rumoured since the start of La Vuelta but only made official and public now.

However not everything is bright in the American team's camp as Mattias Skjelmose, future teammate of Ayuso, has already been honest about his skepticism of how the transfer might affect his role in the team. The Dane was supposedly promised leadership and a team built around him for the next few years, and Ayuso might already find some internal issues before even joining his new team.  

"Lidl-Trek told me they believe in me. I don't know how it relates to Ayuso coming in. They've been telling me for a couple of years that they want to build a team around me. But I don't think they brought him in as a domestique," he recently said in an interview with TV2. 

The ambitions of the two can be managed as is the case in many other teams, but it's not the brightest start for the Spaniard's new adventure. "I don't know how it will work. We have the same goals. If he has some difficulty helping Tadej, then I don't know if he will want to help me in any way if it comes to that". 

Lidl-Trek has, besides a bunch of important renewals in its development team, also revealed a transfer that had been in the works and that is of the new junior World Champion Harry Hudson from Great Britain. It came as no surprise that the 18-year old was to join a top team after also having won the junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier this year, but he has thoroughly cemented himself as one of the brightest prospects in pro cycling and is starting a new stint with a top team already in January.

Many teams have had their men on the ground in Kigali to discuss potential moves with riders that weren't yet secured. This might have been the case with Swiss rider Jan Huber who famously did not have a team this year but still competed at the highest level on the under-23 ranks, and after his second place in the men's under-23 road race, it was only a matter of hours before Tudor Pro Cycling Team assured the deal, with him joining the under-23 squad next season. The race winner, Lorenzo Finn, is currently signed with the under-23 Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe squad and will join the World Tour structure in 2027 according to multiple reports.

Red Bull is promoting this winter the Istrian Spring Trophy winner Adrien Boichis to the elites ahead of Finn's move, whilst Tudor also did announce the signing of American Will Barta from Movistar.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike signed Owain Doull from EF Education-EasyPost as they look to build a block around Matthew Brennan and his sprinting ambitions whilst Bahrain - Victorious confirmed the promotion of under-23 Giro d'Italia winner Jakob Omrzel and Alessandro Borgo from their development to elite teams.

There haven't been many stories developing this week, rather a lot of attention has been on the signings instead. Team Jayco AlUla will see Dylan Groenewegen depart to Unibet Tietema Rockets but the substitute to the Dutchman, according to Daniel Benson, is likely to be Pascal Ackermann.

The German sprinter has many years of experience as a leading sprinter but in Israel - Premier Tech, besides the complicated current situation that has developed with the team over its Israeli sponsorship, Ackermann has found internal competition in Ethan Vernon and Jake Stewart. He is certain to leave at the end of 2025.

Two ProTeams have taken the attention this week. As previously mentioned, Lidl-Trek announced many new names but also extensions in their development teams, but in the current elite peloton two teams have had big securities assured for their future this week.

One of them is TotalEnergies, which will see its title sponsor depart next season due to its link-up with INEOS Grenadiers, but for the time being the team is not at risk of disbanding. Into the 2026 season the team will be having another five riders which it announced this week in Maryland Cycling Classic winner Sandy Dujardin, Fabien Doubey, Alan Jousseaume, Fabien Grellier and Alexys Brunel.

All 23 riders signed so far for next year are French and the team has kept all of its leaders in Anthony Turgis, Jorgan Jegat and Emillien Jeanniére, proving to be a positive sign for the team's continuation beyond 2026.

One of their main rivals, Tudor Pro Cycling Team - who aim to rise into the World Tour over the coming years - has also renewed with two of its leaders, one of them being Michael Storer into 2028. The Australian is an absolute leader in the mountains, a consistent rider and a proven winner as shown this year at the Tour of the Alps.

However the team has also signed Maikel Zijlaard, however all the way into 2029, proving the team's long-term security already, and securing one of the best leadout men in the peloton - also a strong sprinter and stage winner at last year's Tour de Romandie.