CYCLING MARKET | New American team formed; Girmay and Gaviria close to new contracts; UAE secure Almeida and EF Education's 'open secret'

Biniam Girmay, Fernando Gaviria, Richard Carapaz, Leo Hayter and a few World Tour teams securing several of their riders are the main stories in this week's cycling market. Despite heading into the second half of November, there is still plenty activity in all corners of the cycling world and the action does not stop behind the scenes whilst the racing is not taking place on the road.

At this time of year it is difficult to secure big sigings, but we countinue to have plenty moves in the peloton. Team Picnic PostNL for example have signed two Dutch riders who have tons of potential. Frits Biesterbos from BEAT Cycling is one of them, after having finished second to Florian Vermeersch at the Gravel World Championships; and the other is Timo de Jong, winner of the Tour of Holland's queen stage on the VAM-berg. Both have signed a two-year deal.

Team Jayco AlUla has signed promising British climber Finlay Pickering from Bahrain - Victorious; Groupama - FDJ have signed Axel Huens from Unibet Rose Rockets and also promoted Titouan Fontaine to the elite team; Soudal - Quick-Step had an interesting signing with Mexico's Said Cisneros who is joining the development team; and on the opposite side of the spectrum age-wise, 49-year old Francisco Mancebo has signed with Pingtan International Tourism Island Cycling Team, which means he will prolong his career into his 50 years of age.

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling, the United States of America's newest pro team, which will be in cycling's second division next year, has also officially announced its lineup for the 2026 season including 20 riders. Amongst them sprinter Scott McGill and former World Tour pros Leo Hayter and Stefan de Bod.

This is where the big stories lie this week, with plenty interesting moves to analyse. First and foremost, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe who still have two spots to fill for the 2026 season. With their first team training camp set to start in two weeks in the Spanish island of Mallorca, there is a small race against time to confirm the two riders that will fill the team.

One had previously been rumoured to be Intermarché - Wanty's Arne Marit. The Belgian will certainly not stay in the Intermarché-Lotto merger and could serve as another sprinter card. On the topic, CyclingUpToDate can confirm the 'new' Belgian team will have its presentation in Temse, Belgium, on the 12th of January and will have two separate training camps in December and January.

As for Red Bull - BORA, it has been heavily rumoured this week that the 30th rider (since Oier Lazkano's contract has been terminated) should be his compatriot Haimar Etxeberria, part of Equipo Kern Pharma and the winner of this year's Vuelta a Castilla y Leon. He holds a contract until 2027, but according to Diario de Navarra, this will be bought out.

Then we have Fernando Gaviria, who has been said by AS to be joining Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, and that the contract signing should take place soon, extending the Colombian's career outside of the World Tour. Reportedly, Biniam Girmay - now back in Europe after an extended stay at home in Eritrea - is also set to sign with 'Cycling Academy', whose new sponsors are yet to be announced. They are said to potentially be either Visit Rwanda, or a Swiss Bank, according to Ciro Scognamiglio of Gazzetta dello Sport.

Then there is EF Education-EasyPost, "officially" having only 22 riders signed into 2026, but CyclingUpToDate can access that this does not reveal the full picture of the American team. We can confirm the team is currently undergoing a team camp and that the full squad will be announced soon, which heavily suggests the team's structure for the upcoming season is virtually confirmed.

Additionally, Daniel Benson has reported that one of the 7 riders who are reportedly under contract - not publicly, but officially - is Richard Carapaz, one of the team's current leaders. This comes after rumours had surged that Carapaz could be heading back to Movistar, or even INEOS Grenadiers recently.

Another reputable source, X user Jauzy19, has reported that besides Carapaz, the team also has Hugh Carthy, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Archie Ryan, Lukas Nerurkar, Darren Rafferty and Jardi van der Lee under contract for 2026. This supports the observation that the team may be complete for the upcoming season, although it would still leave one spot open. James Shaw does not have a contract, Esteban Chaves is said to be retiring by Spanish journalist Javier Ares; whilst Jack Rootkin-Gray and Yuji Todome remain with no deal by the looks of it.

As the transfer market comes closer and closer to the end, several teams make moves to secure some of their current riders in order to find stability next year. There is still remarkable activity in this aspect of the market agency currently, with two teams renewing with several riders this week.

One is Team Jayco AlUla, who has had the lack of financial guarantees until the end of October, which significantly delayed their ability to sign new riders or even renew with some of their current ones. It put their World Tour license at risk even. The issue was fixed, but it meant the team had a second round of activity starting now in November. Besides the signing of Finlay Pickering, the team has confirmed the extensions of Kelland O'Brien, Felix Engelhardt and Davide de Pretto.

The other is Bahrain - Victorious, who has renewed with five riders. Amongst them two leaders: Matej Mohoric and Damiano Caruso, who provide the team with tangible safety into the upcoming season, as well as being two riders who are very experienced and helpful to the team as a whole. Fran Miholjevic, Robert Stannard and Rainer Kepplinger have also extended.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG extended their ongoing contract with João Almeida, bolstering it from 2026 to 2028 whilst Groupama - FDJ also pulled out big efforts to get young Frenchman Maxime Decomble on a new contract, securing him now up until the 2028 season.