CYCLING MARKET - Roglic on the move; UAE and Visma lose important riders and INEOS try to bring new leaders into 2026 season
CyclingFriday, 31 July 2026 at 16:58
The Cycling Market is as active as ever. On the 1st of August, this Saturday, the transfer market opens officially and the rumour mill is running hard. Dozens of riders are on the move and new names have been reported on since the start of the Tour de France.
The market only officially opens on the 1st of August, but what that means is that the teams can publicly announce their signings from this day onwards. Many deals are agreed upon weeks or even months in advance; something that in some instances also plays a role in what the teams do with the riders they have in their roster.
Contract Extensions
During the Tour, a lot of riders showcased their talents immensely, and big decisions were made. Firstly, Jai Hindley had his contract with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe renewed until 2028. The Australian was third at the Giro d'Italia and an important domestique for Remco Evenepoel at the Tour de France; and the German team secured him after he had been rumoured to join Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
During the Tour, four other riders that had been present were officially renewed with their teams. From them, only one wasn't a stage winner: Mike Teunissen, who stays with Astana after the strong leadout work for Max Kanter he has done.
But the other three were all major players in the three-week race: Soren Waerenskjold, winner of one of the bunch sprint stages; Mads Pedersen who will stay with Lidl-Trek all the way into 2029 (the year he will likely retire in, with the Danish World Championships); and EF Education-EasyPost's Richard Carapaz who has signed for one more year, meaning he will continue to lead the American team in 2027.
Lotto-Intermarché, after a streak of bad news in the departure of most of their leaders, has finally revealed good news as they unveiled the renewal of Jarno Widar all the way into 2028.
| Published | Rider | Team | Until |
| 2026-07-31 | WIDAR Jarno | Lotto Intermarché | 2028 |
| 2026-07-28 | PEDERSEN Mads | Lidl - Trek | 2029 |
| 2026-07-23 | CARAPAZ Richard | EF Education - EasyPost | 2027 |
| 2026-07-20 | TEUNISSEN Mike | XDS Astana Team | 2028 |
| 2026-07-18 | WÆRENSKJOLD Søren | Uno-X Mobility | 2029 |
| 2026-07-13 | DE BRAUWERE Sil | Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team | 2027 |
| 2026-07-13 | VANLAERE Loïc | Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team | 2027 |
| 2026-07-13 | DE SCHOESITTER Shanyl | Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team | 2027 |
| 2026-07-13 | NUYENS Wies | Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team | 2027 |
| 2026-07-13 | VANDENBERGHE Viktor | Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team | 2027 |
| 2026-07-07 | HINDLEY Jai | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 2028 |
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Rumours brewing during the Tour de France
Teams, riders and agents all gather during the Tour de France, one of the locations where it is certain that a great percentage of the best riders in the world will be present. Hence, unsurprisingly, a lot of rumours have been built all throughout the three-week race and around it. A lot of these rumours, covered by CyclingUpToDate previously as well, are attributed to reputable sources such as Daniel Benson, Ciro Scognamiglio, Het Laatste Nieuws, Het Nieuwsblad, and Wielerflits.
There are tons of top teams also involved. UAE Team Emirates - XRG have Pavel Sivakov departing the team but this week it's also been confirmed that newly-crowned Belgian champion Rune Herregodts is on the move; set to sign either with Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lotto-Intermarché or Cofidis.
Alpecin are losing Kaden Groves as their second sprinting option but are alternatively signing Madis Mihkels into their ranks, with the Estonian rider moving from EF Education-EasyPost. There is a lot of action in the sprinter field as Dylan Groenewegen has also been linked with Movistar Team, a move that could come as a surprise taking into consideration the success of his recent move to Unibet Rose Rockets.
Michael Valgren is amongst the four riders recently linked to INEOS
Some minor moves have been mentioned and are all quite likely to happen including Netcompany INEOS who are close to signing Harold Tejada and Michael Valgren, from Astana and EF respectively. However, Astana are also set to sign one of INEOS' men in Victor Langellotti, as well as Aleksandr Vlasov who might make a return to the Kazakh team.
Vlasov will depart Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe who appear to be on the verge of signing Georg Steinhauser. Lidl-Trek in the meantime are looking to add Jordan Jegat to their team from TotalEnergies. INEOS have also been strongly linked to Jegat's teammate Anthony Turgis and Astana's Clément Champoussin.
Mikel Landa, ending his contract with Soudal - Quick-Step, has been reported by Deia to be joining Euskaltel - Euskadi, a team he himself helped bring back to life almost a decade ago, and could be ending his career on.
Equipo Kern Pharma looks to be coming to an end and many of its riders are being linked with World Tour teams, who look to seize the opportunity. Iván Sosa and Urko Berrade look to join EF Education-EasyPost; Iván Cobo and Diego Uriarte could join Movistar; Ibón Ruiz could join Bahrain - Victorious whilst Marc Brustenga and Unai Iribar have been linked to Caja Rural - Seguros RGA.
Groupama - FDJ are rumoured to be signing Alexandre Delettre and Emilien Jeannière, as well as Christophe Laporte of Team Visma | Lease a Bike who could move into a leading position. The team is set to face the certain departure of Valentin Mdouas who could join Cofidis and also one of its last leaders Paul Penhoët who might become Team Picnic PostNL's newest sprint leader.
When it comes to the major teams there are more big moves to be made. After Pavel Sivakov, Decathlon CMA CGM Team are looking to add also INEOS' Laurens de Plus and Jayco's Ben O'Connor who could be making a return to the team in which he's succeeded the most.
Lastly there is Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, a lineup linked with plenty riders over the year, many of them young and sprinters. Now the team is looking to add climbers to its roster and has been heavily linked with Caja Rural duo Jan Castellón and Sebastian Berwick; but also Primoz Roglic whose future is still a question mark after his departure from BORA has been confirmed.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- ouch! Let's hope he recovers in time for a successful Vuelta, but I'm going to assume that he's not going to be at the level he wishes or needs to compete with, say, Pogačar (by now I assume he's going).RidesHills31-07-2026
- go wout!Crashjames31-07-2026
- Alec Segaert is present, so on stage 1 there is always a chance of a disruption of the sprint
Rafionain-Glas31-07-2026 - I'm a fan and hurts me to have to say - this is just plain stupid of both him and the team! “We may have misunderstood the Tour a bit this year,” Vingegaard said following his withdrawal. “We made me better on the longer climbs. But it could well be that we should have realised I needed to be a bit more explosive and look more closely at the route.''Cyclingsbestfan31-07-2026
- LOL passing men is no significant achievement for elite female cyclists unless they are actually prosRafionain-Glas31-07-2026
- Visma's Vuelta gifting was certainly complicated, with JV having almost wiped out Kuss's lead before a public outcry led to Visma's decision to hold back. But Jonas seemed fine with letting almost victory go.Hills3331-07-2026
- I can read, and am responding to another comment or, dumbdevilCrashjames31-07-2026
- imo the pogs gifting is way obvious... Visma riders obeyed team orders even though Kuss deserved his victory with Roglic having a sook.
Davide31-07-2026 - yup.OCexile31-07-2026
- I'm one of those who really hopes Pog is clean, as he has real (and entertaining) skills like attacking at just the right moment to beat Carapaz and Martinez on Alpe d'Huez, taking just the right line to pull away on the descent on Stage 6, crashing in such a way that he can carry on and win, or avoiding crashing over a bidon. For me, the real moment of temptation to boost performance in some way would surely be when a rider is feeling desperate (whether to win again or simply not crack); and we might not be aware of such an inner struggle.Hills3331-07-2026
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